The purpose of this study was to explore the definitions, benefits, challenges, methods and perceived levels of current collaboration of Virginia’s 47 Soil and Water Conservation Districts, each a political subdivision of state government. The study was guided by the following questions (1) What is collaboration and how is it used by political subdivisions of state government? (2) What collaborative strategies are used specifically by soil and water conservation districts? (3) At what level are districts currently collaborating? (4) At what level do districts prefer to collaborate? A mixed methods research survey was used. The quantitative section measured current perceptions of collaboration based on six indicators of successful collaborations as determined and tested by the Amherst Wilder Foundation—environment, membership, process and structure, communication, purpose, and resources—through use of its Collaborative Factors Inventory. The qualitative portion allowed further exploration into how districts are utilizing collaboration at a grassroots level. Desired levels of collaboration were also captured. The entire district population—district directors, associate directors, and staff—was surveyed and responses analyzed to better understand collaborative efforts. The results indicate that collaborations occur because of both the resource benefits received and the support of a greater cause—or a mix of relational exchange and resource dependency theories. Of the six collaborative indicators, resources proved the greatest area of concern. The process and structure variable was found to be a second needed area of growth. Trust issues with key partners, a component of the membership variable, were also identified as hindering collaboration. Overall, current perceived levels of collaboration occur between coordination and coalition, or a three to four on a five point scale. However, districts identified a desire to operate more often at the coalition level. By focusing on improvement to process and structure needs as well as resource issues, trust will improve and desired levels of collaboration can be reached. This study will enrich the existing literature by expanding on the use of collaboration as it relates to political subdivisions. Findings will be of value to all conservation districts, with greatest value to Virginia. Partner agencies, policymakers, and public administrators will further benefit by gaining insights into the collaborative process.

Science, and especially the social sciences, has developed as distinct territories, each with its own vocabulary and language-game (Wittgenstein, 1945/1958). Yet understanding and explaining science as a complex and pluri-disciplinary system has important practitioner-oriented as well as research-oriented and other benefits, benefits that can be enhanced through the use of cloud-based technologies. Understanding and explaining public policy in particular as complex can inform and transform the way problems are approached. This is particularly important for an action subject like public policy and administration that can be considered as having been influenced by many disciplines. Public administration (PA) through multiple perspectives, already in the literature as epistemic pluralism (Farmer, 2010), aims to transform PA’s language-game by increasing the imaginative nature of knowledge. The practical application of epistemic pluralism has also been established. This dissertation further extends theory to practice by conceptualizing a cloud-based tool called Wittgenstein X. A cloud-based tool to organize and make sense of public policy and administration through multiple perspectives will provide a mechanism for researchers, practitioners, students, and others to increase the imaginative nature of knowledge. The application of EP theory and practice to big data will also be considered. This dissertation conceptualizes complexity theory as the fundamental vantage point from which science in general and public policy and administration in particular can be understood. It asks: What is the relevance of understanding and explaining public policy as a complex and pluri-disciplinary system and how is this related to big data? This study is important because it offers a remedy to resolving seemingly intractable problems in PPA. The component terms of this study, science, complexity, pluri-disciplinarity, systems, and governmentality will be shown as linked in a Wittgensteinian Family Resemblance. The terms can be said to merge into a whole where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

The purpose of this study was to determine the most significant factors that contributed to on-time undergraduate degree completion. On-time degree completion requires that a student complete all the requirements of their degree within 4.5 years or less. A grounded theory methodology was used to conduct the study. Narrative data was collected through semi-structured interviews. Thirty former students who completed their undergraduate degree at Virginia Commonwealth University were recruited for this study. To be eligible for the study, participants had to have completed their undergraduate degree in 4.5 years or less and graduated between 2004 and 2011. The analysis of the narrative data determined that preparation for on-time completion begins in high school and continues throughout a student’s college career. First, high school students who develop ‘academic self-esteem’ by participating in an honors courses or an early college credit program in high school enter college with the belief, or personal vision, that they can complete their degree in 4 years. However, in cases where the student matriculates without ‘academic self-esteem’ directed and intensive institutional support is an effective proxy. Next, a student must be self-motivated or determined to complete on-time. They must have an inherent reason for wanting to reach that goal post. However, since the findings indicated that motivation can be internal, external, or both, institutional support can be used as effective tool to develop these qualities where needed. Third, if students are to complete their undergraduate degrees on-time, they must develop a personal plan for accomplishing that goal at the very beginning of their college careers. This plan should be incorporated into the student’s academic advising sessions and updated as they acquire the credits required for the completion of their degree. And finally, students should be strongly encouraged to engage in campus life by participating student clubs, organizations, and/or athletics. Participation in campus life encourages persistence and therefore supports on-time completion.

Especially for last three decades many of the scholars have tried to provide general terrorist profile, which is commonly usable for all terrorists. They were seeking to identify the process of becoming terrorist (Sageman, 2004; Russel&Miller, 1977; Strentz, 1988; Hassan, 2001). The main problem on those studies is that, without looking at degree of involvement of terrorist they just focus on “who becomes a terrorist and why” and they prefer to ignore different type of characteristics about terrorist. Yilmaz (2009) tried to underline and answer this subject by studying on arrest results about DHKP/C and Hizbullah terrorist organizations in Turkey. This study aims to analyze socio-demographic and motivational differences of PKK terrorist organization members who are belong to different involvement degrees (active participant and supporter).

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of parenting training on the acquisition of parenting skills and its impact on self-esteem of incarcerated mothers. The program under study is the "Mothers Inside Loving Kids" (M.I.L.K.) program, which is a holistic training/visitation program designed for incarcerated mothers.Study participants included 40 volunteer incarcerated mothers at the Virginia Correctional Center for women. The treatment group consisted of 20 participants who were already involved in the "M.I.L.K." program. The comparison group was made up of 20 mothers who were on the waiting list for the program due to the lack of space. All participants were administered a battery of pre-tests and post-tests. Instruments utilized for the study included the Adult-Adolescent Parenting Inventory (AAPI), the Nurturing Quiz, the Index of Self Esteem (ISE), and a participant satisfaction survey.Bivariate analyses were used to test the difference between pre-test and post-test mean scores. Both parametric and non-parametric tests were conducted to determine if change scores revealed significant differences. Using independent t-tests to determine if there were significant differences between treatment and comparison groups on change scores, no significant differences were noted. However, in reviewing the direction of change scores for the two groups, the treatment group did show changes in the desired direction in four areas. Specifically, positive directional change occurred on the "Lack of Empathy for the Child" sub-scale, the "Belief in Corporal Punishment" sub-scale, the "Reversing Family Roles" sub-scale, and on the "Nurturing Quiz."Using the Wilcoxon non-parametric test, one measure revealed statistically significant differences between pre-test and post-test scores. Specifically, participants in the treatment group revealed significantly higher scores on the "Nurturing Quiz" at post-testing from pre-testing (z = -2.81, p = .005). This indicates an overall increase in knowledge about positive child management techniques. No significant pre-test to post-test differences were noted in any of the remaining areas under study. However, positive directional change scores were noted in the three different areas of "Inappropriate Expectations of the Child", "Nurturing", and "Self-Esteem."Overall, the findings suggest that the M.I.L.K. Program training positively impacts parenting techniques. Self-esteem appears more difficult to impact.

The purpose of this study is to identify the current baseline for lifelong learners (age 50 and better) focused on post-secondary education in the Commonwealth of Virginia (VA), the resulting academic services and public policy implications. While the aging research to date is overwhelmingly focused upon health issues, financial security, legislative initiatives, care-giving, and assisted living, etc., fewer studies or data are available on the increasing post-secondary continuing education that lifelong learners will likely expect to be made available to them. The educational level of the growing aging population will continue to increase. Research has repeatedly proven higher education to be a reliable predictor of continuing lifelong higher education. As proven elsewhere, lifelong learners will benefit physically from the healthy mental fitness and the learning society will benefit from the shared wealth of a lifetime of experience, talent, and community service. The very nature of the traditional withdrawn retirement is being redefined by lifelong learners in active productive retirement by those who vigorously engage in meaningful activities throughout the extended phases of their lives. Many lifelong learners continue to work full or part-time, start new careers or their own businesses, provide volunteer services in their communities and seek post-secondary continuing education into very advanced ages. This powerful graying population is an undeniably huge market as boomers control 70% of $7 trillion dollars total household worth. This researcher anticipated that limited adult education available beyond the legislated minimum requirements for adult basic literacy education is unevenly distributed among private and public agencies serving the aging. For the many relatively healthy adult learners whose attention and resources are not consumed by health and wealth concerns, their continuing education desires will not nearly be met by the small number of programs available to meet adult learners' growing educational needs. A study of academic services currently provided and projections for the academic services required in the future forecasts the educational service needs of the burgeoning adult learner population. This study outlines a baseline of adult learners' services, needs/desires, future plans and public policy choices that will face Virginia as the aging population rapidly grows.

The purpose of this exploratory study was to further investigate the notion of parental competencies through the use of the Juvenile Offender Parent Questionnaire as previously developed by Rose and colleagues (2004). The parent questionnaire was administered to 88 parents of juvenile probationers placed on probation in a Virginia county. Exploratory Factor Analysis revealed an eight-factor solution: parental exasperation, parental resignation, mistrust of the juvenile justice system, shame over parenting efficacy, parental monitoring, fear of the child, parent perceptions of child’s exposure to violence, and anger towards child. Regression analyses indicate that parental exasperation and parental resignation were not significant predictors of whether a juvenile violates their probation or subsequently offends while on probation; however, parental monitoring was significant. Moreover, this study highlights the significance of maintaining passing grades and refraining from substance use as predictors of offending patterns in probationers. This document was created in Microsoft Word 2003.

Using data from the Black Women's Health Study (BWHS) and building on what is currently known about perceptions of racism and discrimination and its mechanisms, this study attempts to demonstrate the value of identifying additional variables that may serve as potential risk factors for obesity among African American women. Using secondary data analysis, the purpose of this study was to expand the scope of existing obesity research by examining a 1997 cross-sectional dataset of self-reported questionnaire responses among a random sample of African American women enrolled in the Black Women's Health Study (BWHS) to examine the association between perceptions of racism and discrimination within 3 domains (e.g., perceived racism, institutional racism, race consciousness) and body mass index (BMI) after controlling for selected sociodemographic, psychological, behavioral, and reproductive factors. The general hypothesis of the study was that self-reported responses to perceptions and experiences of racism and discrimination would be significantly associated with differences in weight (as measured by BMI) among the sample utilized for the current study. A convenience sample of 5,044 African American women enrolled in the BWHS was included for analysis in this non-probability cross-sectional study. A biopsychosocial theoretical framework was used to understand the unique role of perceived racism, institutional racism and race consciousness had on body mass index (BMI) among the BWHS cohort. These factors were examined because of their relevance to African American females' experiences. The data were analyzed through hierarchical multiple and logistic regression through SPSS 14.0.The major findings of this research indicate that a large random sample of African American women enrolled in the Black Women's Health Study found a clear relationship between perceived racism and body mass index (BMI). Results revealed consistent with the study's main hypothesis that self-reported responses to perceptions and experiences of racial discrimination would be significantly associated with differences in weight (as measured by BMI), the summary variable for perceived racism was significantly correlated with body mass index (BMI) among the BWHS cohort. Elevated odds ratios were observed for the variable that summarized perceived racism. Elevated odds ratios were also observed for most of the individual perceived racism questions. Results also revealed the variable for race consciousness was a significant individual predictor of body mass index (BMI) among the sample. Notably, perceptions and experiences of racial discrimination did not predict differences in the level of obesity among the sample. Overall, the finding that the summary variable for perceived racism was predictive of the odds of being obese (BMI > 30kg/m') vs. non-obese (BMI ≥ 30kg/m 2 ) in the regression analyses, even in the presence of other theoretically related variables, provides strong support for the unique role of perceived racism as a risk factor for obesity in African American women. The major implications of this research include (a) gaining a better understanding of the factors associated with perceived racial discrimination and reported frequency among African American women; (b) use of social health indicators in Healthy People 2010 and 2020 that consider the influence of racial discrimination in health outcomes that can be used to develop strategies to generate public dialogue and create a better defined policy landscape and health agenda informed by social justice and reflects multiple levels of influence (e.g., individual behavior, community or neighborhood attributes, and broad policy change) as it pertains to the ethnic and racial disparity in obesity; lends further support to both HP2010 and HP2020 goals and objectives for future policy actions to guide the development of culturally competent prevention programming aimed at reducing the prevalence of obesity among African American women; (c) recognition of race-related stress as a contributing risk factor for obesity in African American women; (d) recognition of the need to improve the measurement of perceived racial discrimination through questions that adequately measure the stress and coping related to the experiences of racism; (e) better restructuring of selected agencies that fund health research to broaden research topics regarding African American women as a homogeneous group; and (f) expansion of the U.S. healthcare system to incorporate established cultural competence guidelines and practices to address social and structural causes of race-related stressors that negatively impact the health status of African American women and similar minority populations at-risk for obesity.

Security is a term that appears to be used in a variety of ways and to have a number of meanings. In policy discussions, there may be reference to information security, national security, network security, online security, and other kinds of security. In an environment where technological innovation appears to be occurring at an ever increasing rate, policy makers look to technological experts for advice, and information security policy is developed, it seems to be important to consider these variations in meaning. This constructivist inquiry explores the context in which information security policy is developed and inquires into the meanings, assumptions, and values of those who engage in policy discourse. The guiding research question, "What is the meaning of security?" asks participants in federal and state government, colleges and universities, and the private and non-profit sectors about their understandings of security. The findings of this inquiry, presented in a narrative case study report, and the implications of this case study provide a richer understanding of the multiple meanings of security in the context in which information is selected and presented to policy makers, advice is given, and policy decisions are made. The multiple perspectives offered by diverse research participants offer valuable insights into the complex world in which information security policy development takes place. While the goal of this research is understanding, the use of thick description in the narrative may aid in the transferability necessary for the reader to make use of this research in other settings. Lessons learned are included, along with implications for policy makers and for future research.

Background: the aims of this study were to assess the outpatients needs among 155 patients at Al-Amal Complex for Mental Health in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and identifying the demographic variables that are associated with these needs. Method: the Camberwell Assessment of Need Short Appraisal Schedule (CANSAS) was used to assess the needs and the demographic questionnaire was used to identify the patient’s demographic variables includes gender, age, income and level of education. Results: patient who meets any one of these criteria; being elderly, poor, and the uneducated are more likely to have higher total number of needs. Men and women are more likely to report similar met needs, but women are more likely expressed more unmet needs.