There is a shortage of Licensed Independent Social Workers with the Training Supervision Designation (LISW-S) in a county in rural Ohio. If there are not enough LISW-Ss, social workers may not have the ability or opportunity to work independently or gain the supervision needed to become more competent in specific areas of practice. The purpose of this project was to gain a better understanding of why some social workers in rural Ohio decide not to pursue an LISW-S credential, as well as whether there are resources or incentives that might prompt individuals to pursue this credential. This action research project was grounded in systems theory, which helped in identifying interactions among systems that may influence an individual's decision to become an LISW-S. Purposive sampling was used to recruit participants (N = 5) from the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker, and Marriage and Family Therapist Board. A focus group was conducted to gather data from Licensed Social Workers. Participants mentioned they did not pursue the credential due to age, their employers not requiring it, being unaware of the added value, and because acquiring the credential was not a personal or a familial priority. The findings from this study may support positive social change at practice and policy levels by helping social workers overcome barriers to achieving the LISW-S credential, which could result in more competent, well-trained social workers who can provide valuable services to consumers. Further research on this topic is suggested to test the possible solutions provided by the participants and the findings of the study.

In Texas and across the United States, minority male juvenile offenders are overrepresented in juvenile detention facilities. Researchers have demonstrated an inverse relationship between levels of empathy and antisocial beliefs and delinquent behaviors in juveniles. Understanding this relationship is an important step in designing and implementing rehabilitative interventions for juvenile detainees. Grounded in social learning theory and the social empathy model, the current study addressed whether significant differences in empathy existed between nonminority and minority male juvenile offenders with felony and nonfelony offenses within a juvenile detention facility in rural Texas. A de-identified data set of 357 Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) questionnaires was analyzed. The data set contained only males ranging in age from 10 to 17 years. A two-way analysis of variance indicated no significant mean differences in measured empathy between nonminority and minority detainees, or between those with felony and nonfelony offenses. Results suggest that the site facility may focus its rehabilitative resources on broad empathy interventions regardless of minority status or offense. Results do not support targeting specific demographics for empathy interventions.

The inefficient use and knowledge of direct, on-demand air taxi/air charter flights in the United States was the topic of this dissertation. The general problem studied was the inefficient use of air transportation options by business travelers in the United States. The specific problem was how business travelers in the United States learn of and thereby elect to embrace a newer air travel option. Using Rogers's diffusion of innovations theory as the framework, the dissemination of air travel choices made by business travelers using ImagineAir air taxi service in the United States was explored via a qualitative case study research design methodology. Thirty-five semistructured interviews and matching customer database information provided data for the study, Data were later analyzed for emergent themes and codes using MAXQDA software. Key research questions included communication of the innovation, business travelers' perceptions of the innovation, timeframe of innovation adoption, business environment enabling the innovation adoption, and the Rogers self-described adopter type. The results showed that compatibility, relative advantage, risk, and complexity influence the perception of business travelers about air taxi services. Based on the research, the course of action suggests that business travelers will most rapidly embrace air taxi service via internet dissemination of this new option. With continued success in dissemination, positive social change will come in the form of efficiencies as business travelers use more than 5,000 virtually idle airports and over 7,000 on-demand air taxi aircraft as highlighted by U.S. government studies further bolstered by this research.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to fill an existing gap in research on bereavement and graduate students. The study explored how bereavement and grief affect a person physically, mentally, and cognitively. Prior studies have addressed bereavement in undergraduate college students, but little research has focused on online graduate students and bereavement. This study fills that gap in the literature allowing university personnel and the public access to an understanding as to how online graduate students' bereavement affects their academic performance and how they perceive their university supports them during their time of bereavement. This exploration used a case study design and Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory as its theoretical foundation. Open-ended interview data were collected from 10 formerly bereaved graduate students in face to face structured interviews. Interviews were transcribed and categorized using a 7-step process to organize all relevant statements. The results revealed that bereaving graduate students felt isolated, experienced difficulty focusing, and required extensions for completing their coursework. Participants concluded it was important for bereaving students to ask for help during bereavement. This study provides an understanding of the experience of being a bereaved online graduate student, and further provides information to assist university personnel in how to serve bereaved graduate students. This information may lead to enhanced programs or services meeting the needs of graduate students, including promotion of staff training related to the unique needs of bereaved graduate students.

Political division has plagued Northern Ireland since its partition from the rest of Ireland in the 1920s. Current literature recounts the role of nationalist actors in the violent struggle that erupted in 1969 initiating a 3-decade period of civil strife described as the Troubles. However, very little scholarly coverage exists providing details of nonviolent resistance on the part of some community members. The purpose of this interpretive phenomenological study was to examine the meanings and perceptions evoked from Irish nationalists from Belfast and Derry who chose to challenge security policies through nonviolent actions from 1970 through 1981. Using a chain sampling approach, 14 protesters volunteered to tell their stories. Benet's polarities of democracy unifying model was used as the theoretical framework for the study. The data collected were analyzed using the modified Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen method, which involved a synthesis of meanings generated from respondents. Data analysis revealed 4 major themes that underpinned informant experiences of protest: social identity, coping, perseverance, and empowerment. Data showed in many instances that more aggressive security tactics used against demonstrators incited more intense antistate activities. Public administrators, through a combination of written policy and security personnel training, should, therefore, address sociopolitical grievances in a manner that will promote mediation in an effort to avoid instigation of further and more physical protest actions. State officials, as well as elected legislators who write and analyze public policy, may incorporate the findings of this study to expediate the delivery of more democratic government services and to support and promote nonviolent active citizenry.

Research suggests evidence of an association between sociodemographic determinants and illicit drug use. However, these data do not take into consideration the effect an economic obstacle, such as a recession, could have on an individual's urge to cope with this stressful period with illicit drugs. Furthermore, there is no research to suggest how clinicians and/or treatment institutions can forecast whether the use of monetary resources will be sustainable due to private and/or governmental fund reductions during an economic recession. Based on theories of social learning and social disorganization within an ecological framework, this study employed a quantitative trend analysis to explore the impact the 2007-2009 economic recession had on illicit drug use throughout the United States. A sample of respondents from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Data Archive from 2006 to 2010 surveys was used to run the statistical analysis. Based on the analyses, age and gender (covariates) and all variables (social disorganization and Gross Domestic Product) were found to be significant predictors of illicit drug use. Although methamphetamine was not significant for prevalence over time, total drug use, cocaine, and heroin were prevalent over time based on predictors. These findings suggest local, state, and federal policies regarding the prosecution and imprisonment of nonviolent and minor drug offenders should be reprioritized towards the rehabilitation of addicts while enforcing firmer laws upon the most disruptive and severe aspects of the drug trade in order to promote a genuine positive change towards social organization.

Since the 1993 inception of the mentoring program in the U.S. Navy, little evidence has been collected on its effectiveness, primarily because of difficulties with instrumentation and conceptualization in conducting such assessments. The purpose of this correlational study was to identify external factors affecting military protégés' satisfaction with their mentoring experience. The conceptual framework of this study was based on Kram's mentor model theory, which includes career and psychosocial support functions. A 5-item Likert survey instrument was designed to measure the dependent variables of satisfaction with career mentoring and satisfaction with personal mentoring against 10 independent variables: dyad compatibility, mentor training, dyad geography, mentoring functions, mentor/protégé gender, challenging job assignments, protégé visibility, mentor leadership, time management, and protégé career expectations. The survey was completed by a total of 538 participants, selected among the service personnel of 17 U.S. Navy aviation squadrons in the enlisted ranks of E1 through E6. Ten simple linear regressions were performed with a level of significance of .001. All 10 independent variables were significantly related to satisfaction with both career and personal mentoring. The study results suggested, however, that career mentoring was favored to a greater extent than was personal mentoring by protégés, with the effect sizes ranging from 5% to 48% for career mentoring and from 3% to 22% for personal mentoring. Furthermore, Kram's theory was a useful lens to evaluate mentoring in this population. The implications for positive social change include informing program administrators in the U.S. Navy of the benefits to their units to evaluate and improve the design and the implementation of career and personal mentoring.

Prejudice research shows that most psychologists focus on moderate prejudice in superficial settings, rather than extreme prejudice in real-life situations. The present study used an interpretive phenomenological analysis guided by social constructivism on 21 biographies to investigate how the authors voluntarily disaffiliated from their groups and altered their prejudice. The narratives were retrieved from popular and academic book and journal memoirs, digital and print interviews and articles, podcasts and video clips of members of closed faith societies who were socialized to resent outsiders, with their resentments turning into violence. The analysis used Willig's 4 stages: immersion in material, identifying core themes, summary of themes, and the amalgamation of the summary into themes. Results of this study indicate that there seems to be a turning point in which participants perceive the outside world in a different way. This change in perception may occur in members of closed groups through conducting critical analyses, reading source texts, and experiencing altruism from a member of the resented outside groups. Recommendations include that communication between outsiders and group members should reflect subtle, fact-based reasoning and manifest a customized approach to reducing prejudice. The study offers an original approach for understanding socialized violence. Governments and relevant entities could use this research to train invited outsiders of a cult or closed faith society regarding how to decrease the prejudice of closed group members.

Previous researchers have indicated that first responders are in an ever-changing environment, and unfortunately, the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among first responders is increasing. This study sought to better understand first responders' perceptions of emergency preparedness protocols and training, as well as the prevalence of PTSD. This study also examined first responders' thoughts, decision making processes, and protective actions information, communications necessary during situations of emergency preparedness for traumatic events, and how PTSD impacted this process. A sample of 16 first responders of various ages was recruited for the purpose of this study. The participants were made up of firefighters, police officers, and emergency medical services. This study drew from protection-motivation theory, the theory of planned behavior, sensemaking theory, and decision making theory. The researcher used a 15-question, semi-structured interview. Interpretive phenomenological analysis was used for qualitative analysis. The following themes emerged: (a) emergency preparedness is perceived as critical; (b) emergency preparedness is perceived as inadequate; (c) first responders are unlikely to seek treatment; (d) the development of psychological disorders is perceived as likely; (e) there can be hesitation or feelings of "freezing" during emergencies; (f) there can be numbness and distraction during emergencies; and (g) first responder training helps to make decision making automatic. Implications, suggestions for future research are discussed, and the need for additional studies in first responder training that consider the location of first-responders as well as the need for first responders' trainings to promote positive social change.

Abstract Sexual autonomy is the right and capacity of each individual to decide and make choices about whom, when, and how they express themselves sexually. Individuals with intellectual disabilities have frequently been marginalized, oppressed, and left out of discussions about sexuality placing them at risk of abuse, unsafe sex practices, and unplanned pregnancies. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the usefulness of person-centered planning techniques in the development of an individual service plan that address the social-sexual needs of individuals with intellectual disabilities. Purposeful sampling was used to select 8 participants for this study. Specific participants were selected because they possessed personal perspectives and experiences regarding person-centered planning techniques. Data collection included semi-structured, open-ended questions with face-to-face interviews and document review. Code development began with systematic organization of narrative data that was thematically analyzed using open-coding. Findings showed the person-centered individual service plan is a tool that can empower and promote social-sexual autonomy for individuals with intellectual disabilities if service and support administrators initiate a conversation about social-sexual activity. Implications for social change include increased advocacy for sexual autonomy, greater social acceptance of relationships, inclusive sexuality programming for individuals with intellectual disabilities and professional development training for service and support administrators.