Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Public welfare administration'

Thesis (M.P.A.)--Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, 1991.
Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 2957. Abstract precedes thesis as [3] preliminary leaves. Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 75-77).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2005.
Title from first page of PDF file (viewed March 6, 2006). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 127-129).

Thesis (M.P.A.)--Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, 2000.
Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 2928. Typescript. Abstract precedes thesis as preliminary leaves. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 67-70).

The problem of social choice is the central theme of this study. Our main objective is to prove the existence of a social welfare function in order to put to rest the doctrine of 'natural liberty.' We reject most of the recently suggested solutions to the problem on the basis that they are either incomplete or inconsistent. Our proposed social welfare function is along the utilitarian line. Ratio-scale interpersonal comparisons of cardinal utilities are used to prove its existence. If we are allowed to define utilitarianism more broadly, then our social welfare function will also be unique. Finally, the study argues strongly for more positive action on the part of the government to rectify social injustice.

Governments started regulating the telecommunications industry, firstly, because the governments thought that the industry possessed the characteristics of what is generally known as 'natural monopoly' and, secondly, to protect the users of telephone services from potential abuses that are associated with the monopoly power. The governmental intervention went so far that, with the exception of few countries, virtually everywhere in the world telecommunications services were provided by the government departments of Post Telephone and Telegraph (PTT). However, with the technological advances made in the telecommunications industry, the industry can no longer be characterized as 'natural monopoly,' and, therefore, the primary rationale for regulating telecommunications industry is undermined. Despite the technological advancements and the move to deregulate telecommunications industry prevalent elsewhere in the world, some developing countries are adamant in maintaining their monopoly over the provision of telecommunications services. What was regulated to protect the consumers against the monopoly abuses is now regulated to extract monopoly profits from the consumers. This paper adopts the premise that whether governments regulate an industry, or deregulate it, or introduce competition in it, they should strictly adhere to the objective of governmental intervention, that is, consumer welfare.

Welfare-to-work (WTW) programs are an essential part of societal assistance made available to families in need. In ABC County, CA, problems have been found with the implementation and success rates of their WTW program: Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). Even with funds allotted for the program, ABC County has not been able to design a WTW program that meets the TANF program work participation requirement of 50% of active TANF recipients in a WTW activity. The purpose of this study was to address this need as it related to the TANF program specifically. A qualitative, exploratory, single case study was used to explore how TANF personnel interacted with TANF recipients and how that interaction influenced recipients’ decision to participate in this WTW program. Data was collected from 12 TANF workers using semi-structured interviews, observation sessions, and document reviews. The results of this study indicated that the most relevant strategies TANF eligibility staff could use when interacting with TANF recipients were: cultural sensitivity, motivating, providing information, and empathizing. Shortcomings that were identified and that still need to be addressed and improved upon were communication skills, a general lack of encouragement, judgmental behavior, and personal insecurities. In terms of TANF staff perceptions regarding their influence on client decisions to participate in the program, there were mixed results. Seven study participants believed that they had an influence on client participation in this WTW program while the rest of the participants disagreed with this statement for various reasons. As a result of this research, potential social implications include the improvement of the TANF program overall and an increase in the participation rate of the beneficiaries within the program.

This thesis examines the ways in which public sector organisations communicate with people from lower socio-economic communities. The study is guided by the research question: Do the existing communication strategies of public sector organisations serve the needs of low decile communities in New Zealand? The study looks at the communication strategies used by three public sector organisations - Ministry of Social Development, Inland Revenue and Hamilton City Council - to interact with residents of a low-decile neighbourhood in Hamilton. Positioned within the critical theoretical paradigm (e.g., Deetz, 2005; Mumby, 2000) which looks at issues of power, domination and asymmetry in terms of communication practices, the research shows how social policy is socially constructed in order to serve the political aims of the public sector but is not necessarily constructed in terms of the target publics of that organisation. The study uses a three dimensional discourse analysis - text, context, and social practices (Fairclough, 1992) - to analyse the formal communication and information dissemination structures, processes, and texts of these organisations and to examine the ways in which some of the intended target publics of these organisations make sense of them and respond to them. The study includes an analysis of public documents put out by the organisations as well as interviews with youth workers, social workers, and representatives of the specific neighbourhood community. Juxtaposing the textual analysis with the analysis of the interviews facilitates an evaluation of whether the communication strategies of the organisations relate to the context of the socio-cultural practices of lowdecile neighbourhoods.

This thesis examines the process of welfare policy-making in Quebec with respect to single mothers and their children. Historically, traditional notions of the role of women in society and the distinction between "deserving" and "undeserving" poor have inhibited adequate social assistance for single mothers. Chapter 1 examines the 1937 Needy Mother's Assistance Act, the first state assistance program for single mothers in Quebec. Chapter 2 discusses the ideological basis for present-day welfare policy making. The liberal feminist commitment to gender neutrality and acceptance of the marketplace economic model have abetted recent attacks on the Motherwork norm in welfare policy and thus reinforced existing disadvantages of single mothers. Chapter 3 examines the Quebec welfare policy-making process embodied in the 1987 position paper Towards an Income Security Policy and subsequent parliamentary commission hearings. The Return to School Program for single parents, and other provisions, with their renewed emphasis on the marketplace and their attack on the Tender Years Presumption, left single mothers effectively worse off under the new Income Security Act.

Bibliography: leaves 105-111.
The study set out to establish the extent to which the needs of Community's were taken into consideration in the formulation of Social Welfare Policy. The Structure in the Government service is such that Policy's are formulated by top management. Top management in the Government Service is constituted by the Ministry. When the KwaZulu Legislative Assembly sits the Minister at one of these sessions delivers the policy speech. This policy is disseminated to the Community through the Department's Secretary by the Civil Servants. As Social Workers are concerned in their delivery of Social Welfare Services about minimising problematic situations, the study will examine the role played by Social Workers in the formulation of Social Welfare Policy. The involvement of Social Workers in policy formulation is seen as a helpful tool in enabling them to play the advocacy role. Their contribution would enable the policy formulation to have an idea about issues that policy must address.

This systematic literature review synthesizes findings from empirical studies published between 1989 and 2016 to examine types, use, purpose and implementation of information and communication technology in public child welfare to determine if there are thematic reoccurrences in these arenas. Study results yielded information to the field of social work and public child welfare by determining themes in successful usage, purpose and implementation of information and communication technology in public child welfare to better serve those vulnerable populations. This systematic literature review contextualizes and identifies these themes across the literature. Studies included in this review were analyzed and categorized to determine reoccurring themes in information and communication technology use, purpose and implementation.

The mission of public child welfare agencies is to help children grow up in families that can provide safety, permanency and well-being. Child welfare systems are notoriously complex and workloads heavy, but all participate in evaluation with the goal of continuous practice improvement. The Qualitative Service Review (QSR) is a tool designed to provide feedback about case practice and to identify trends influencing practice. Feasibly, QSR cannot be performed on every case, so an important element of its utility is the degree to which workers can apply learning from one case to others. Little is known about frontline workers’ experiences with QSR and how these reviews influence application of QSR generated knowledge and practice. Fourteen frontline workers in three state child welfare agencies participated in individual interviews about their experience with QSR and its influence on their practice. This study uses a qualitative descriptive method to describe perceptions of QSR and practice learning. Findings suggest that workers perceive QSR as a practice improvement strategy as well as an evaluation, that it requires a significant time investment, and that it highlights areas of opportunity where best practice expectations can be articulated more fully. Additional themes about the practice environment emerged. Workers described their emotional investment in practice and their perceptions that multiple systems influence practice. The neoliberal influence on public agencies could be heard in participants’ observations that the child welfare work environment is changing from one that measured performance through interaction with families to one that promotes accountability by data collection. These findings have implications for child welfare practitioners and administrators, researchers, staff responsible for conducting QSR reviews, and social work educators.

Teaching is reported to be a stressful occupation and social support is thought to mediate stress. The purpose of the study was to identify relationships between the level of professional burnout and social support of high school teachers in Northeast Tennessee. In this correlational study, a sample of 228 secondary school teachers in Northeast Tennessee completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory and the Teacher Support Network Inventory (TSNI). Respondents' satisfaction with support and amount of support were ascertained from the TSNI. Data presentation included a demographic description of the sample and a description of teachers' work support, personal support, and recreational support networks. The support networks were described by the number of relatives, teachers, principal/supervisors, and network members not in education-related work. Relationships were shown between the dimensions of burnout and each of these variables: size of the network, respondents' satisfaction with support received, and the amount of perceived support. Gender and age were also found to be factors that were related to both network structure and professional burnout. Conclusions of the study indicated that relationships exist between social support and burnout. The variable most closely related to burnout was a teacher's satisfaction with social support. Size of the personal support network was positively related to personal achievement. Principal support and support from males was inversely related to emotional exhaustion and depersonalization in work networks. Female support was inversely related to personal achievement in work networks. Differences in levels of professional burnout indicated that females had more emotional exhaustion than males. Teachers two were younger than 45 years had more emotional exhaustion and depersonalization than teachers older than 45.

This project used a content analysis methodology to determine the agenda-setting capacity of the media to influence child welfare legislation in a state legislature. With a foundation in agenda-setting theory, this study identifies how the coverage of child abuse and neglect in the print media impacts decision-makers to introduce legislation related to child abuse and neglect. Through a comparison of the issues covered in the newspaper with the issues receiving legislative attention, this study showed that media influence varies by topic, with some topics being more open to media affects than others. A second component of this study analyzed how child abuse and neglect is portrayed in four newspapers circulating across the state. With an emphasis on identifying the types of issues that receive media attention in Virginia, this qualitative study showed key themes and patterns prevalent in child welfare coverage. The media demonstrates an affinity for covering episodic, micro-level instances of abuse, and thematic, macro-level systemic issues. These findings show media focus is concentrated on extreme and unusual cases of abuse and those issues that will evoke shock and emotion from the reader.

The fast and easy global movement of capital throughout the financial system, from lenders to borrowers and through intermediaries and financial market participants, has been recognized as a source of instability associated with illiquidity and financial crises. The purpose of this research was to better understand how regulation either enables or constrains capital movement. The theoretical framework comprised 2 contrasting public policymaking models, Arrow's rational-comprehensive model and Kingdon's garbage can model, which were used to derive opposing hypotheses. The research question addressed the nature of the relationship between Credit Default Swaps (CDSs) regulations and the flow of capital into Collateralized Mortgage Obligations (CMOs) when lenders share their borrower-related loan risks through intermediaries with other market participants. This quantitative study was a quasiexperimental time series design incorporating an autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model using secondary data published by the U.S. government. The 2 independent variables were regulatory periods involving 2 CDSs regulations and the dependent variable was capital in the U.S. financial system that is deployed to CMOs. The Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000's ARIMA model (1,2,1) was significant at p < .05 and was negatively correlated to the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008's ARIMA model (1,1,0), r = -.91, n = 18, p < .001. These results suggest that regulations cannot be relaxed and then reinstated with predictable results. The potential for positive social change is from stable financial institutions that mutually benefit depositors and borrowers.

This dissertation studies refugee resettlement in the U.S. and develops a framework for understanding a city's capacity for employing refugees who resettle in the U.S. The study exposes the tension between the humanitarian mission of the U.S. Refugee Program and the objective of immediate employment after arrival.

The research questions include: 1) How do contextual factors in the destination city relate to refugee employment outcomes? 2) How might deeper consideration of the relationship between city factors and refugee economic outcomes inform policy making in refugee resettlement program?

A framework derived from the literatures on urban policy and refugees explores how place-based factors influence initial refugee employment with an embedded comparative case study research design (3 cases, 6 units each). Interview data and 2010 employment outcomes stratified by country of origin and English ability collected on-site in 2011, in addition to public data sets from the Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics were analyzed. By comparing outcomes of refugees with similar demographic profiles across 3 cities, the research design explores how local policies, attitudes of the receiving community, economic opportunities, ethnic networks, and refugee resettlement organizations influence refugee employment outcomes.

The study finds that when comparing pairs of cases, higher refugee employment rates 8 months after arrival are associated with higher relevant job availability and accessibility in the metropolitan area. Job availability is characterized by lower unemployment, a larger low skill job market, a smaller ratio of refugees to metropolitan area population, resettlement agency outreach to employers, larger co-national communities, linguistic clusters in places of employment, a higher percentage of English speakers in the linguistic group, and Right-to-Work policies. The focus on place-based factors fills a gap in previous refugee literature with a general theory about how the local context of U.S. cities interact with refugee employment. The findings have implications for the U.S. Refugee Program's allocations strategy, terms of cash assistance, outcome measurement, and funding structure. Recognizing the employment capacity of a city for refugees enables program administrators to anticipate the cost implications of resettling refugees in that city.

This dissertation examines how state policymakers develop, evaluate, and select tax policy options, based on case studies of tax policy decisions in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia from 2007 to 2010.

States have been the main locus of tax policy change in the U.S. in recent years, varying widely in their choices of which taxes to raise or cut, and whether to adjust tax rates or the tax base. Because public finance and budgeting research has focused largely on appropriations, as well as tax decisions at the federal level, the dissertation seeks to expand the knowledge base about state tax policy formulation. This is a critically important policy area because state tax systems are threatened by the growth of services, the advent of electronic commerce, capital flows that cross state and national borders, and the aging of the population.

Based on a mixed-methods research strategy involving documentary evidence as well as interviews with 10 to 15 key policy participants in each state, the dissertation found that the three states vary widely in their capacity to generate and refine tax policy options, reflecting ideological and institutional differences. Nevertheless, the states were very similar in one respect: each state made only tangential efforts to expand its tax base and curtail tax expenditures during the worst fiscal crisis in decades. This pattern suggests that it will be difficult for states to carry out the reformers' mantra to broaden tax bases and lower tax rates, a conclusion that is supported by national data.

The case study states also relied heavily on "selective parity" – aligning their tax rates and tax bases with at least some neighboring jurisdictions or comparable states – in making tax policy choices. This practice suggests that states will avoid the gridlock that has marked federal tax policy, because the widespread use of benchmarking provides a rationale for tax increases as well as cuts, while still serving as a moderating factor that pulls states toward regional or national means. States are picking spots on a spectrum of service levels and tax burdens that reflect voter preferences but are also constrained by national and regional norms.

A general hierarchy of taxes constructed from the case studies and also reflected in national data shows that narrowly-targeted levies (such as health facility taxes) and "sin" taxes (such as cigarette taxes) were the most likely to be increased, while broad-based taxes with the strongest revenue performance (such as the personal income tax) were the least likely to be increased. This pattern reinforces the conclusion that states are neglecting the long-term revenue capacity of their tax systems, a finding that is reinforced by a continuous stream of small tax cuts granted in each state, interrupted periodically by larger tax increases – a pattern of "punctuated incrementalism".

Mass notification systems exist to provide rapid notification to members of the public during emergency situations. Since the middle of the 20 ^th century, these systems have evolved to incorporate a variety of different communications methods as technology has advanced. While local governments have used mass notification systems for many years, institutions of higher education generally only began using such systems following the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007. This study attempted to examine trends relating to mass notification systems and to identify differences in how they have been implemented both in local government and in higher education. While the study was not able to identify statistically valid results due to low response rates, it appears that such differences do exist and further research in this area is needed.

Efforts are currently underway in the US federal context to improve and strengthen evaluation practice and increase the use of evaluation results to inform policies and programs. However, these efforts remain unrealized, due partly to the lack of a comprehensive theoretical framework that views evaluation and related organizational processes and institutions as part of a larger system. Early intuitive theoretical taxonomies of evaluation policy suffer from the lack of connection to specific examples and instances, and are missing clear classification criteria that would allow practical application. To generate a grounded taxonomy of evaluation policy, this study surveyed members of the American Evaluation Association in 2009, asking them to generate examples of evaluation policy, and then to sort and rate these suggested policies. Results are analyzed using the concept mapping method of Trochim (1989), which first translates aggregate sorting decisions into conceptual “distances” on a two-dimensional dot map, then uses hierarchical cluster analysis to generate groupings of ideas. These groupings become the foundation for categories in a theoretical taxonomy. Findings reveal several different dimensions by which participants grouped evaluation policies, including the dimensions of “value” and “policy mechanism.” A values-by-mechanisms taxonomy and instructions for its use in an evaluation policy inventory process are proposed.

Mental Health service provision organizations have strong professional norms of cooperation, which exert pressures on organizational actors to integrate and coordinate services to better, serve clients. Pressures to integrate services sometimes run counter to the funding mechanisms employed in delivery systems. This is especially true for managed care. This study examined whether integration increased or decreased as a result of the introduction of risk-based managed care in one community. Data were collected at two points in time, 1996 and 1999, in order to assess changes in services integration over time. Survey instruments and field interviews were employed to collect the relevant data. Standard network analysis techniques and simple content analysis were used for the analysis. The theoretical portion of this dissertation sought to determine which set of literature better described what occurred in a normatively cooperative network with competitive, managed care incentives. I reviewed literature in organization theory, common pool resources, and mental health to support a cooperative view of mental healthcare delivery, and reviewed principal-agent theory and managed care to support a non-cooperative view of mental healthcare delivery. I found that despite the competitive incentives introduced into the mental health delivery network, integration increased over a three-year period. Integration was measured using network measures such as density, degree centrality, cliques, core provider analysis, and blockmodels. The network findings were further supported by the qualitative analysis performed on the interview data. The latter part of the dissertation develops a model that explains collective action in interorganizational networks. It draws upon the organizational theory literature by describing the determinants necessary for network formation and using the concepts of communication, norms, time, and context. The common pool resource literature contributes a diagnosis stage to the model that assists in explaining how networks change and develop desirable characteristics over time, while supplementing the OT literature's perspective on communication, context, and time. I also suggest ways in which this dissertation contributes to practice, focusing on the systems design of mental health delivery systems.

This study focused on a policy that promotes educational stability for foster children in a southern state in the US. At the time of this study, this policy had not been fully adopted across the state which resulted in foster children not routinely receiving the interventions necessary for improving academic outcomes. Using the diffusion of innovation theory as a framework, the purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore how local-level leaders impacted the successful adoption of education policy in one county office of a statewide child welfare agency. Data were collected from a sample of 5 case managers and a review of the literature. The data were coded and analyzed using Colaizzi's 7-step method of data analysis. Results revealed the specific actions that were taken by county-level leaders to impact the successful adoption of the policy. Such actions included the allocation of resources and the intentional inclusion of informal leaders in decision-making around policy implementation. The social change implications stemming from this study include recommendations made to program leadership to consider practical changes to policy implementation that may result in successful adoption of this policy. Such changes may lead to foster children across the state receiving the benefits of the evidence-based supports outlined in the policy and may lead to an improvement in the delivery of services to vulnerable populations served by the child welfare agency.

The report, A Crucible Moment, published in 2012 by the National Task Force on Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement described a crisis in higher education surrounding the lack of civic learning and engagement opportunities for students. This crisis has led to decreased political participation and a general lack of knowledge in civics education (National Task Force on Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement, 2012). Educating students for citizenship in America's colleges and universities will assist with sustaining the country's democracy by engendering a sense of civic responsibility in young adults that will last throughout their lifetime. This qualitative case study examined the relationship between two institutions of higher education (IHEs) and AmeriCorps programs to determine how the partnerships operated and whether they addressed the recommendations for higher education cited in A Crucible Moment.

IHEs are using A Crucible Moment as a guiding document to think about civic learning and democratic engagement. While many are in the process of creating new initiatives and programs to address those issues, this study focuses on two existing programs that may provide a framework for strategically integrating civic engagement into higher education using a readily available government resource—AmeriCorps. With recent budget cuts impacting education, it is difficult for many IHEs to obtain additional funding to support initiatives directly related to student learning. As a result, finding resources to implement civic learning and democratic engagement opportunities that are often perceived as tangential to the education process is nearly impossible. AmeriCorps, now in its 20^th year of implementation, has had a steady stream of funding and bipartisan support from the government over the years. IHEs that sponsor an AmeriCorps program have the potential to civically engage students and promote mutually beneficial community partnerships.

Using inteorganizational collaboration theory as a framework, I examined two different models of IHE-AmeriCorps partnerships. Based on the levels of collaboration, I was able to assess the degree to which these types of partnerships could be feasible at distinctly different IHEs given their organizational structure and resources. Although the findings of this research are not generalizable, they provide insights into how IHE-AmeriCorps partnerships operate and demonstrate that, in the cases examined, they do implement the key recommendations of A Crucible Moment. As a result, an IHE-AmeriCorps partnership could be an effective and relatively inexpensive way for an IHE to enhance their civic engagement opportunities.

Participatory methods have been deployed in different ways by actors in pursuit of a diverse range of personal, organisational and development objectives. With the rise of globalisation, neoliberalism and new aid delivery systems, so these methods have been adapted, re-branded and deployed to serve the objectives of a new range of actors. From these macro level currents come micro level initiatives which enrol the global poor in new projects of development. Most recently, the Millennium Development Goals have focused the agenda of participatory development on new models of public service delivery. With this new imperative comes an emergent focus on governance as a determinant of improved service provision. The same influential actors that have taken a lead role in redefining the problem have also offered new solutions. Just as many populations in the Global North have historically taken a role in the production of services that are responsive to their needs, so it is proposed that others in the Global South can be supported to claim similar rights, demand similar accountability. This thesis explores the increasingly popular technology of voice and accountability as a solution to inequalities in access to health services. I explore the extent to which the model is constitutive of a broader neoliberal discourse which is coproduced by a range of actors from Washington to village. Using a case study from a maternal health programme in Nepal; I discuss the implications of this social technology, with reference to the range of personal and organisational projects of which it is constitutive. I discuss how these discourses shape the way development is performed, and reflexively reproduce diverse regimes of power. I examine what is produced by such initiatives, and, the ways in which actors gain from this globalised project, or are disenfranchised in new ways.

While South Korea is ranked high in education, economies and technological development, the level of South Koreans' happiness has not grown simultaneously. This fact contradicts the common sense that improvements in living standards, such as income or education, lead to gains in happiness or individual wellbeing. In order to examine the phenomenon of decreasing perceived individual wellbeing in light of increasing income levels, I analyze the relationship between societal expectations/pressure and happiness in South Korea, using data from the World Value survey conducted in 2010. The uniquely high concentration on human capital in South Korea has played a major factor for extreme competitiveness. Since the financial crisis in 1997, the competitive job market has produced few job opportunities, which has caused a high level of social pressure. The major finding of this study is that the impact of societal expectations on unhappiness increases as people get older and it is more powerful among people of lower income. Also, social pressure has a greater negative effect on happiness for females than males in South Korea. Even when controlling for independent variables, including job security, wages, and high living costs, I show social pressure to have a first order impact on perceived well-being among Korean citizens. From a policy perspective, low levels of happiness can ultimately cause social instability and loss of human capital. Expected policy implications are increasing the number of college entrance exams and fostering work life balance initiatives. In this sense, the findings of this paper can serve as a guideline for the South Korean government not only to improve the overall economic productivity of South Korean society, but also enhance the quality of life along important societal dimensions.

The growth of mobile phone use has paralleled increased reports of identity theft. Identity theft can result in financial loss and threats to a victim's personal safety. Although trends in identity theft are well-known, less is known about individual cell phone users' attitudes toward identity theft and the extent to which they connect it to cell phone use. The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine how cell phone use is affected by attitudes toward privacy and identity theft. The study was based on social impact theory, according to which people's attitudes and behavior are affected by the strength and immediacy of others' attitudes and behavior. The research questions concerned the extent to which participants connected cell phone use with decreasing privacy and increasing cybercrime, how the use of biometrics affected cell phone users' attitudes and behavior, and what steps can be taken to reduce the misuse of private information associated with cell phone use. Data collection consisted of personal interviews with representatives from 3 groups: a private biometrics company, individual cell phone users who earn more than $55,000 a year, and individual cell phone users who earn less than $55,000 a year. Interviews were transcribed and coded for themes and patterns. Findings showed that interviewees were more likely to see identity theft as a problem among the public at large than in the industries in which they worked. Participants recommended a variety of measures to improve cell phone security and to reduce the likelihood of identity theft: passwords, security codes, voice or fingerprint recognition, and encryption. The implications for positive social change include informing government officials and individual users about the use and abuse of cell phones in order to decrease violations of privacy and identity theft while still promoting national security.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Sydney, 2008.
A thesis presented to the University of Western Sydney, College of Arts, Social Justice and Social Change Research Centre, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Includes bibliographies.

The 2001 destruction of the World Trade Center and the subsequent anthrax attacks highlighted the inability of an antiquated public health system in the United States to respond effectively to emergencies. Little documentation exists to define how public health agencies can improve performance. The overarching research question was the extent to which drills and exercises improve performance in public health emergencies. Adult learning theory and deliberate practice theory were explored in this context. The research data were from 50 state public health departments, which were required to report performance information to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The data were examined using Poisson analysis and logistic regression. Results indicated that drills and exercises had no statistically significant impact on public health performance for the 3 performance measures examined; of all predictors, what explained the most variance in reaching performance targets was the number of real emergencies to which a health department had responded in the past. Performing drills and exercises did not predict the likelihood of reaching performance targets. These findings have implications for positive social change for Congressional leaders and other government representatives. Such public servants could use this information to guide their efforts to redirect public health emergency preparedness funds away from drills and exercises and toward other fundamental public health activities. These more focused efforts could facilitate the improvement of public health laboratory capacity, the training of field epidemiologists, and the advancements in technology for enhanced reporting and surveillance.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, School of Public and Environmental Affairs, 2009.
Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Jul 7, 2010). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-10, Section: A, page: 4046. Adviser: David A. Reingold.

There is an emerging consensus among public health practitioners and policymakers alike that, given the existence of shared risk factors, the treatment of food insecurity and obesity requires integrated research and policy action. Referred to as the food systems approach, this perspective applies an ecological public health model for the conceptualization of the shared food environments from which food insecurity and obesity stem, and identifies opportunities for intervention centered on the promotion of healthy and sustainable food systems. One such food systems-based intervention that has garnered significant support is the redemption of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits at farmers' markets. However, the vast majority of studies that have examined the implementation of SNAP at farmers' markets have been conducted within a single market and have been designed to measure program impact, rather than the contextual determinants of program adoption and success. This study operationalizes the food systems approach and ecological model in order to examine the relationship between the implementation of SNAP at farmers' markets and macro-level physical food environment characteristics. Results indicate that the prevalence of SNAP-authorized farmers' markets is positively related to food system characteristics relating to local food production and distribution. The findings of this study contribute to the legitimacy of the food system approach and its application of an ecological public health model in the identification, formulation, and implementation of interventions designed to combat food insecurity and obesity. When enriched by the science of food environment assessment and measurement, the ecological model employed by the food systems approach provides a suitable framework for the systematic analysis of the macro-environmental context in which food systems-based interventions are implemented.

The purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which teachers' academic and professional characteristics predict their classroom effectiveness, as measured by value-added indicators of their students' growth. Teachers' college transcripts, service records, and district records of classroom assignments are used to examine undergraduate content and pedagogy courses, graduate work, and professional experience; the district's own value-added indices are utilized as the measure of teacher effectiveness. The study examines a subset of 318 teachers who were continuously employed over a four-year period at one of 19 "hard-to-staff" secondary schools in one of the nation's largest school districts. The study finds that local experience and college coursework in the teacher's assigned content modestly predict the teacher's classroom effectiveness, which has implications for hiring practices in public schools.

The system of human subjects' protections has recently gone through many changes. Overtly, the structural and functional changes are justified by rhetorical claims of increasing protections for research subjects. Yet, change represents an opportunity for a restructuring of the system in ways not immediately obvious. So, despite rhetorical claims of increased protections for subjects, what problems are delineated and how is the system of human subjects' protections constituted? Examination of the structure and functioning of the system, utilizing a blend of social constructivism, science and technology theories, and power theories, as well as a multi-layered, multi-dimensional examination of the system of human subjects' protections points to multiple social actors with many different interests. Many of these actors claim to speak for the subjects; however the subjects themselves do not speak in venues where policy is decided. Many problematic aspects of the system of human subjects' protections are delineated; however, few of the problematic aspects were addressed by the recent structural and functional changes made to the system. Overall, the current structural and functional aspects of the system of human subjects' protections do not necessarily support rhetorical claims of increased protections for subjects. As the system came under pressure from public scrutiny, the adjustments which followed tended to benefit institutional interests rather than human subjects.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, School of Public and Environmental Affairs, 2008.
Title from dissertation home page (viewed Sept. 30, 2008). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-03, Section: A, page: 1150. Adviser: Maureen A. Pirog. Includes supplementary digital materials.

This dissertation presents a comprehensive framework to analyze municipal water supply reforms in developing countries by adapting the institutional analysis and development framework (IAD) to this sector. It does so by providing a detailed description of all the meaningful components of the IAD framework that apply to municipal water reforms and also provides a structure to evaluate these reforms. It then applies the adapted framework to the municipal water reforms in Jakarta, Indonesia to get a fresh perspective on the situation there.

The application of the framework to Jakarta yields a number of findings, not widely discussed in the literature. For instance it becomes clear that the success of a system involving a diverse set of institutions requires a thorough understanding of the interactions between the different actors, not just a study of the actors themselves. Also, a variety of factors exogenous to the players—like biophysical factors, or the characteristics of the community or rules on the ground—often play crucial roles. These need to be considered while shaping policy. A number of such lessons have been presented in this dissertation.

Finally, this dissertation draws insights from this adaptation to Jakarta which can provide lessons to similar cases in the developing world.

Scholars have proposed numerous explanations as to why the Department of Homeland Security has struggled to mature as an organization and effectively conduct its core mission. We propose an alternative viewpoint that the department lacks key legal authorities and necessitates key organizational transfer in order to rationalize its portfolio. We examine these points through review of legal authorities in select mission areas and through a resource analysis of activities conducted throughout the federal government to execute the homeland security mission. The analysis leads to specific recommendations for transfers and authorities and suggestions as to how the political environment might coalesce around engendering these changes.

In the last two decades, openness of public budgeting processes garnered the attention of governments, non-governmental organizations and donors, evidenced by a proliferation of budget transparency and accountability initiatives worldwide (McGee & Gaventa, 2010; De Renzio & Angemi, 2012). Designed to facilitate productive citizen-government interaction around resource allocation, open budgeting initiatives should contribute to strengthening public trust in political institutions (Sayogo & Harrison, 2012; Hakhverdian & Mayne, 2012). Using corruption perceptions as a measure of public trust, this study analyzes the relationship between the openness evident in the budgeting processes of 70 countries and corruption perceptions over a five-year period, 2006-2010. As a traditionally obtuse, closed process, public resource allocation and expenditure is an arena particularly ripe for "wealth-maximizing" civil servants to engage in corruption (Spada, 2009; Rose-Ackerman, 2004). Open budgeting processes that improve citizen awareness of, and provide opportunities for their participation in, government budgeting processes should theoretically improve, not only the incidence of actual corruption, but also citizens' perceptions regarding the level of corruption within their government (Anderson & Tverdova, 2003; Martinez-Moyano et al., 2007). It was hypothesized that citizens in countries with greater transparency, consultation and public monitoring in their budgeting processes perceive lower levels of corruption and higher levels of government anti-corruption effectiveness. OLS and fixed effects regressions found suggestive evidence to support the contention that consultation and openness were positively associated with perceived anti-corruption effectiveness. In contrast, once confounding factors were controlled for, there was no clear evidence to support the contention that openness, either as a composite or its three sub-components, was negatively correlated with perceived government corruption. Furthermore, the results imply that the cumulative effect of the components of transparency, consultation and monitoring may have a stronger impact on perceptions of anti-corruption effectiveness and government corruption than they do as stand-alone activities.

The US Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) places citizens' rights to request and discover information in competition with the right of the government to conceal official secrets (Bathory & McWilliams, 1977; Rourke 1957). Simply put, FOI in practice pits secrecy versus transparency, with administrative discretion in the middle. Though FOIA applies to all federal government departments and agencies in the United States, the tension becomes most acute when applied to the most secretive participants in the national security enterprise, the 16 member intelligence community. Secret-keeping can exert psychological and social pressure on organizations (Simmel, 1906; Weber, 1920/2009) that have the potential to impact individual decision making and shape collective norms (Freidman, Landes & Posner, 1991; Keane, 2008; Sandfort, 2000). This effort examines how secrecy impacts transparency initiatives by researching how the US Intelligence Community FOIA programs perform compared to other federal agencies using multivariate analysis of FOIA annual report data in conjunction with an experimental methodology. The research results show that while intelligence agencies release similar information to control agencies, they differ significantly in the how and when that information is provided. In particular, intelligence agencies take longer to respond than peer agencies and offer less information with the response. These findings contribute to theory by leading to a refined model of transparency and contribute to practice by supporting recommendations for policy makers and FOIA program administrators.

This study intended to discover whether there was consensus among Canadians about the state's responsibility for health care and education from an analysis of the 1996 International Social Survey Programme, Role of Government. The weighted sample size was 1239. Ornstein's and Stevenson's 1977--81 study was also partially replicated. Results showed that welfare state retrenchment in health care and education during the '90s and state ruling by coercion led to dissent among Canadians about government intervention in health care and education. Drawn upon the competing region-class struggle theories, findings indicated that high public support for government intervention in health care was an interaction of regional---Prairie and Alberta---and class struggle---lower, working and middle classes, differences. Quebec showed the lowest increase in support for government role in health care over time. Women favoured much greater government role in health care than men. Younger and low-income people were more favourable to government intervention in education.

This dissertation examines the nature of states' choice of AFDC benefit levels in order to determine the sources of interstate variations in AFDC benefits. Like previous studies, a state's financial and demographic characteristics are modeled as playing a significant role in the benefit choice. This study extends the literature by also formally modeling the role of the financial and demographic characteristics of a neighboring, or rival, state. The characteristics of another state are expected to influence the state's benefit choice for the following reason. Each state wishes to provide some minimum living standard for its citizens (the AFDC benefit level). The provision of this minimum living standard costs the state not only in terms of the dollar value of the offered benefit, but also in terms of increased total financial obligations if the chosen benefit level attracts recipients from the rival state. Each state, therefore, accounts for this "caseload" price of the benefit level by incorporating the level of interstate migration induced by any feasible benefit level, taking that of the rival as given, into its benefit decision. This interstate AFDC benefit-setting competition is modeled as a two state generalized game. The model's implication are derived and empirically testeµ. The results of the empirical tests support the game theoretic model; The observed pattern of interstate variations in the AFDC benefit level is consistent with the model's implications. The data further suggest that the degree of competitiveness, as indicated by the significance of the rival's characteristics in a state's benefit decision, varies inversely with the distance between the competing states. The model is then used to simulate the impact of the "New Federalism" proposal on the AFDC benefit level. These simulations indicate that, if enacted, the proposed "New Federalism" changes will significantly lower the average per recipient AFDC benefit level. The simulations also indicate that the greater the degree of competition between the states, the larger will be the magnitude of the decline in the benefit level.
Ph. D.

This study employed a qualitative case study methodology to examine some of the challenges that are hindering the fragile state of Liberia from benefiting from the use of country public financial management (PFM) systems for donor-financed projects. The study also examined the effects that these challenges pose to the fragile state. It then explored recommended strategies and policies to resolve the challenges. The data for the study was collected from 15 participants through individual in-depth interviews. The cases of the 15 participants were cross-analyzed based on 4 themes and 13 patterns that arose from the participants' data for the challenges, 4 themes and 6 patterns that emerged from the effects of the challenges, and 5 themes and 13 patterns that emerged from the recommended strategies and policies of the participants. The findings revealed the cardinal or major challenges that, as the participants pointed out, obstruct or hinder the effective use of country PFM systems for donor-financed projects in Liberia. Amid the challenges, some were directly linked to government and others to donors. Moreover, the study observed that some of the challenges were interrelated. In addition, the findings also showed the effects that these challenges could pose to the country's future prospect in regards to country PFM systems use. The study then examined the various recommended strategies and policies for government and donors alike that could help solve the challenges the fragile state faces. The findings of this study fill a gap in practical research on fragile states, specifically Liberia, with regards to country PFM systems and add valuable information on how to effectively and efficiently deal with challenges for eventual full PFM adoption.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, School of Public and Environmental Affairs, 2006.
Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Nov. 17, 2008). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-12, Section: A, page: 4696. Advisers: Wolfgang Bielefeld; Kirsten A. Gronbjerg.

Societies frequently implement land use policies to regulate resource extraction or to regulate development. However, two important policy questions remain unresolved. First, how effective are land use regulations? Second, how do land use regulations affect socioeconomic conditions? Three issues complicate the evaluation of land use policies: (1) overt bias may lead to incorrect estimates of policy effects if implementation is nonrandom; (2) the policy may affect outcomes in neighboring unregulated lands; and (3) unobservable differences between regulated and unregulated lands may lead to biased assessments. Previous evaluations of land use policies fail to address these sources of bias simultaneously. In this dissertation, I develop an approach, using matching methods, which jointly accounts for these complications. I apply the approach to evaluate the effects of Costa Rica s protected areas on land use and socioeconomic outcomes between 1960 and 2000. I find that: (1) protection prevented the deforestation of only 10 percent or less of protected forests; (2) protection resulted in reforestation of only 20 percent of non-forest areas that were protected; (3) protection had little effect on land use outside protected areas, most likely because, as noted above, protected areas had only small effects on land use inside protected areas; and (4) there is little evidence that protected areas had harmful impacts on the livelihoods of local communities: on the contrary, I find that protection had small positive effects on socioeconomic outcomes. Furthermore, the methods traditionally used to conduct such evaluations are biased. In contrast to the findings above, those conventional methods overestimated the amount of avoided deforestation and erroneously implied that protection had negative impacts on the livelihoods of local communities. This dissertation contributes to policymaking by providing empirical measures of protected area effectiveness. Although annual global expenditures on protected areas are about $6.5 billion, little is known to date about the returns on these investments. This study also indicates that policymakers should give careful consideration to current proposals to compensate communities living in or around protected areas: contrary to widely held assumptions, the findings suggest that protection may not have harmful effects on socioeconomic outcomes.

The majority of building code development and implementation practices are normally connected with the progress of construction community changing awareness, needs and perspectives, advanced technology in construction and new level of knowledge. Unproven practices and the technology of building code development and implementation in case of insufficient and outdated codes, the use of unproven advanced codes of other countries, or the infringement of the existing codes, in most cases, could lead to a large number of shortcomings of minimum requirements of public health, safety and general welfare, and poor quality of buildings. Every aspect of a building code development and implementation practice could be influenced by insufficiencies and infringements in building codes/regulations that could cause buildings failures. Generally, the success of a building code development and implementation practice is directly connected with the involved insufficiencies and infringements in the framework of building code (legal, Administrative, technical, & social), i.e. faults of building code development and implementation should be successfully resolved in order to come to an end of a building project assuring code's objectives (public health, safety and general welfare). One of the early research problems of building code development and implementation practice was conducted by Productivity Commission (2004) where the research organized and categorized the causes of shortcomings of BC according to four main functions of building code, including legal, administrative, technical, and social functions. Productivity Commission Research had been the starting point of research problems of building codes in Kuwait. For the past 20 years, many researchers have high numbers of categories, components and rankings to explain different types of insufficiencies and infringements in building codes/regulations. However, these categories and rankings produce inconsistent and overlapping cause and impact factors. In addition, researchers and practitioners at this point tend to focus on the technical and administrative sides related to the issues of building codes development and implementation, and neglecting the importance of legal and social sides. Legal issues like finding a law to prepare and enforce building codes, cover of insurance companies, building materials testing system, weak regulations related issues, building specifications, and clarity of regulation texts; as well as social issues like community awareness, issuing and enforcing legal court rules, deterrent punishments for violators, violations or cheatings in related issues, all of these were deemed not that critical by most reviewers. The research is specifically concerned with the insufficiencies and infringements in building codes/regulations which cause shortcomings of minimum requirements of public health, safety and general welfare, and how related cause and impact factors are selected and organized. Existing research highlights the need for further researches of how to relate between research and building regulations that are at present. There is evidence that construction industries around the world have little experience in this area (CIB TG37, 2001). The proposal within this research is to address this aspect of the debate by seeking to clarify the role of the four functions of building code; legal, administrative, technical, and social function as a frame of reference that stakeholder parties (building officials, design and construction professionals) might agree with and which should act as the basis for the selection and formation of occurrences of cause factors, and their iv impact on public health, safety and general welfare. The focus on the four functions of building code as a fault (cause) frame of reference potentially leads to a common, practical view of the (multi) dimensionality setting of fault (cause) within which cause factors may be identified and which, we believe, could be grounded across a wide range of practices specifically in this research of building code development and implementation. The research surveyed and examined the opinions of building officials, design and construction professionals. We assess which fault (cause) factors are most likely to occur in building and construction projects; evaluate fault (cause) impact by assessing which fault (cause) factors that building officials, design and construction professionals specifically think are likely to arise in the possibility of shortcomings of minimum requirements of public health, safety and general welfare. The data obtained were processed, analyzed and ranked. By using the EXCEL and SPSS for factor analysis, all the fault (cause) factors were reduced and groups into clusters and components for further correlation analysis. The analysis was able to prove an opinion on fault (cause) likelihood, the impact of the fault (cause) on the objectives of building code. The analysis indicates that it is possible to identify grouping of insufficiencies and infringements in building codes/regulations that is correspondent to the different parts of the framework of building code (legal, Administrative, technical, & social) these suggest three identified groups when viewing cause from the likelihood occurrence and four identified groups and their impact for each building code objective. The evidence related to the impact of building code objectives, view of cause, and provides a stronger view of which components of cause were important compared with cause likelihood. The research accounts for the difference by suggesting that a more selection and formation of cause and impact, offered by viewing cause within the context of a framework of building code, and viewing impact within the context of building code objectives (public health, safety and general welfare) allows those involved in building code development and implementation to have an understandable view of the relationships within cause factors, and between cause and impact factors. It also allows the various cause components and the associated emergent clusters to be more readily identified. The contribution of the research relates to the assessment of cause within a construction that is defined in the context of a fairly broad accepted view of the framework of building code (legal, Administrative, technical, & social). The fault (cause) likelihood construction is based on the building code framework proposed in this research and could facilitates a focus on roles and responsibilities, and allows the coordination and integration of activities for regular development and implementation with the building code goals. This contribution would better enable building officials and code writers to identify and manage faults (causes) as they emerge with BC aspects/parts and more closely reflect building and construction activities and processes and facilitate the fault (cause) administration exercise.