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No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Since the terrorist attacks on the United States of America on September 11, 2001, approach to policing has observably been shifted across the country. Utilizing a qualitative methodology, this study explored the perceptions of community members from a Chicago, Illinois community regarding the shift in policing style post 9/11. Cooley's theory of the looking glass self, coupled with a phenomenological approach to understand the deeper meaning associated with the perceptions of the residents and the shift in policing styles in Chicago communities. The data were obtained from participants who were at least 40 years old and held a residence for at least 3 years in the area prior to 9/11 and 3 to 5 years immediately after 9/11. The study included the use of a semi-structured interview guide and the findings were analyzed using inductive coding with thematic analysis. The findings indicated that residents of the community want a positive relationship with the police but perceive that they are viewed negatively by the police and that police fear them. Participants agreed that they recognized a shift in policing strategies and consistently noted a desire for police to return to community policing strategies that they perceive have been abandoned in favor of more militaristic approaches to law enforcement. The positive social change implications stemming from this study include recommendations to police executives to consider the strategic and tactical demilitarization of the police department and integrate community preferences in future decision making regarding critical standard operating procedures including stop and frisk policies, training initiatives, and zero tolerance declarations. Adherence to these recommendations may improve oversight of officers and improve relationships with the community.

Decentralization policy is advanced in many regions as a collaborative approach to regional stability, economic and political development, and poverty reduction. However, there is not a valid decentralization policy in the Mano River Region (MRR) countries of West Africa despite the presence of multinational institutions and United Nations Peacekeeping forces. The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological case study was to use the sequential theory of decentralization to investigate why peace and stability in the MRR are still fragile. The primary research question concerned how the policy of decentralization implementation in MRR can significantly contribute to regional stability, enhance economic development, reduce poverty, and minimize corruption in the MRR. Data were collected from 64 participants, through the use of semi-structured, in-depth interview techniques. A consent authorization of participants allowed the collection of the data. The analysis of data involved, identifying categories of responses and answers to classify them in phases based on responses answers to questions. According to study findings, decentralization policy was perceived to be a positive concept that promotes good governance, regional stability, economic development, poverty reduction, and minimization of corruption; however, there was little knowledge and implementation on decentralization in the MRR or among participants' native countries. An educational program on the successes of decentralization policy implementation is recommended. Outcomes from this research may serve as a point for social change by providing a model understanding of peace and stability in the MRR and similar areas.

<p>In this dissertation, I examine three questions on gender and labor economics. The first two questions are inspired by a broad literature in social psychology which has established that respondents react negatively when women engage in traditionally masculine actions in the workplace (Heilman and Chen 2005; Heilman, Wallen, Fuchs, and Tamkins 2004; Rudman and Glick 1999; Rudman 1998; Rudman and Glick 2001; Bowles, Babcock, and Lai 2006; Amanatullah and Morris 2010). This negative reaction is described as a "backlash effect" (Bowles, Babcock, and Lai 2006).</p><p>I test two hypotheses related to this literature. First, I examine if resumes that use masculine adjectives inspire backlash against female job applicants in a laboratory setting and if this backlash varies by the sexual orientation of the applicant. Second, I take the question of backlash outside of a laboratory environment to see if real employers have the same response as respondents in a laboratory to traditionally masculine actions. In a laboratory setting, I replicate the backlash effect and also show that it only affects perceived-heterosexual women. In a resume audit study, I find the reverse of a backlash effect: employers call back women who use traditionally masculine adjectives more than when they use traditionally feminine adjectives.</p><p>The third question examines the time men spent on childcare during the recession of 2007-2009. The recession provides a sudden change in the employment opportunities of men relative to women in the United States. Using the American Time Use Survey and the linked Current Population Survey, I show that this lopsided shock to employment opportunities was accompanied by an increase in the average amount of time men spent on childcare. In particular, men's average time on physical care for children increased during the recession; this is an element of childcare that men perform less than women. I decompose the total change in average time on childcare into behavioral, compositional, and between group change. A behavioral change among employed men accounted for the majority of the total increase in the average time spent on childcare; among men who are out of the labor force, the increase is entirely due to compositional changes.</p> / Dissertation

<p> This research examined the House General Aviation Caucus during the 113^th Congressional Session. Caucuses, or Congressional Member Organizations (CMOs) have been shown to indirectly impact the legislative process. This research specifically examines the operations of the House General Aviation Caucus, its impact in Congress, and its impact on the general aviation industry. Data included interviews of House General Aviation Caucus members and general aviation industry leaders. The outcomes of the research confirm the positive impact of the caucus in Congress and in the industry.</p>