Matching Items (8)
Description
This dissertation develops a framework for the analysis of fiscal sustainability among U.S. local governments. Fiscal sustainability is defined as a type of fiscal condition that allows a government to continue service provision now and in the future without introducing disruptive revenue or expenditure patterns. An assessment of local fiscal sustainability is based on three types of indicators: pension liability funding, debt burden, and budgetary balance. Three main factors affect a government's long-term financial condition: government structure, financial structure and performance, and local economic base. This dissertation uses a combination of the U.S. Census Bureau Annual Survey of Government Finances and Employment, the U.S. Census Bureau Decennial Census, the Bureau of Labor Statistics data, and the Government Finance Officers Association financial indicators database to study the effects of the three factors on local fiscal sustainability. It is a pioneer effort to use government-wide accounting information from Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports to predict local fiscal sustainability status. The results of econometric models suggest that pension liability funding is most affected by the size of government, debt burden is most strongly associated with the size of local economic base; and budgetary balance is influenced by the degree of local own-source revenue diversification.
ContributorsGorina, Evgenia (Author) / Chapman, Jeffrey I. (Thesis advisor) / Herbst, Chris M. (Committee member) / Miller, Gerald J (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
This study explores the ways in which LGBTQ young adults describe the aspects of their identities, and how those identities shape their service needs and experiences. A participatory action research component was explored as a research and service approach that is sensitive to LGBTQ young people living at the intersections of multiple identities. Although it is understood that LGBTQ young people come from a variety of backgrounds, research is limited in its understanding and exploration of how aspects of identity, such as race and class, influence the lives and service needs of this population. The data was collected through an initial set of interviews with fifteen LGBTQ-identified young adults ages 18 to 24. The interviewees were recruited from an LGBTQ youth-serving organization using a purposive sampling approach to reflect racial/ethnic and gender identity diversity. Following the interviews, eight of the participants engaged as co-researchers on a participatory action research (PAR) team for sixteen weeks. The process of this team's work was assessed through a reflective analysis to identify factors that impacted the participants' lives. Analysis of the interviews identified key themes related to identity among the LGBTQ young people. The interviewees experienced a multiplicity of identities that were both socially and individually constructed. These identities were impacted by their immediate and social environments. The young people also identified ways that they used their identities to influence their environments and enhance their own resilience. The service experiences and needs of the LGBTQ young people in this study were directly influenced by their multiple identities. Implications for intersectional approaches to serving this population are explored. Analysis of the PAR process identified four areas in which the young people were most impacted through their work and interactions with one another: relationships, communication, participation, and inclusion. Implications for research and service approaches with LGBTQ young people are discussed.
ContributorsWagaman, M. Alex (Author) / Segal, Elizabeth A. (Thesis advisor) / Adelman, Madelaine (Committee member) / Ayón, Cecilia (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
There are a number of factors known to influence the occurrence of child maltreatment, including parental history of child maltreatment. Youth aging out of the foster care system have been shown to experience a number of challenges associated with the transition to adulthood, including early unintended pregnancy and parenting. However, despite the presumed risks associated with being in foster care and having a history of child maltreatment, very little research has been conducted to examine the parenting attitudes among youth aging out. This study explored the parenting attitudes and parental risk of child maltreatment among youth aging out of foster care in Arizona and examined the relationship between relational support and parenting. Foster youths' parenting attitudes and parental risk of child maltreatment across five constructs: parental expectations, parental empathic awareness of children's needs, beliefs regarding the use of corporal punishment, parent-child roles, and children's power and independence were assessed. Linear regression analyses were conducted to assess the relationship between youths' perceived social support from friends, family, and significant others and their parenting attitudes and youths' current living arrangements and their parenting attitudes. Findings indicate that youth had lower than the median normed sample scores on two out of the five parenting constructs, parental empathic awareness of children's needs and parent-child roles. Overall, 17% of youth in the sample were considered high risk of child maltreatment as parents, while 79% were considered medium risk. Perceived social support from friends was significantly associated with higher scores regarding youths' attitudes about the use of corporal punishment and children's power and independence. Youth living with foster parents had significantly higher scores than youth living on their own across three out of the five parenting attitude constructs. Youth living with relatives had higher scores than youth living on their own on the empathic awareness of children's needs parenting construct. Findings suggest that youth may rely on friends for social support and may develop more nurturing parenting attitudes if residing with foster parents or relatives. Implications for policy, intervention, and practice are discussed.
ContributorsGeiger, Jennifer Mullins (Author) / Segal, Elizabeth A. (Thesis advisor) / Gerdes, Karen E. (Committee member) / Lietz, Cynthia A. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Over the last three decades there has been a rise in the number of workers employed during nonstandard (evening and overnight) hours; accompanying this trend has been a renewed interest in documenting workers, their families, and outcomes associated with nonstandard-hour employment. However, there are important gaps in the current literature. Few have considered how parents who work nonstandard hours care for their children when parental care is unavailable; little is known about who participates in nonparental child care during nonstandard hours, or the characteristics of those who participate. Most pressingly from a policy perspective, it is unclear how participation in nonparental child care during nonstandard hours influences child well-being. This study aims to fill these gaps. This dissertation paints a descriptive portrait of children and parents who use nonstandard child care, explores the relationship between nonstandard hours of nonparental child care participation and various measures of child well-being, and identifies longitudinal patterns of participation in nonstandard-hour child care. I find that children who participate in nonstandard-hours of nonparental child care look significantly different from those who do not participate. In particular, children are more likely to be older, identify as black or Hispanic, and reside with younger, unmarried parents who have lower levels of education. Estimates also suggest a negative relationship between participation in nonstandard-hour child care and child well-being. Specifically, children who participate in nonstandard-hour care show decreased school engagement and school readiness, increased behavioral problems, decreased social competency, and lower levels of physical health. These findings have serious implications for social and education policy.
ContributorsBoyd-Swan, Casey Helen (Author) / Herbst, Chris M. (Thesis advisor) / Bradley, Robert H (Committee member) / Segal, Elizabeth A. (Committee member) / Lucio, Joanna D. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
This study uses the ontological lenses of discourse theory to conduct a critical mixed-methods analysis of state statutes related to prostitution and sex trafficking. The primary research question of the study was, "How do state laws communicate and reinforce discourses related to sex trafficking and prostitution and how do these discourses reinforce hegemony and define the role of the state?" A mixed methods approach was used to analyze prostitution and sex trafficking related annotated and Shepardized statutes from all fifty states. The analysis found that not all prostitution related discourses found in the literature were present in state statutes. Instead, statutes could be organized around five different themes: child abuse, exploitation, criminalization, place, and licensing and regulation. A deeper analysis of discourses present across and within each of these themes illustrated an inconsistent understanding of prostitution as a social problem and an inconsistent understanding of the legitimate role of the state in regulating or criminalizing prostitution. The inconsistencies in the law suggest concerns for equal protection under the law based upon a person's perceived deservingness, which often hinges on his or her race, class, gender identity, sexuality, age, ability, and nationality. Implications for the field include insights into a substantive policy area rarely studied by policy and administration scholars, a unique approach to mixed methods research, and the use of a new technique for analyzing vast quantities of unstructured data.
ContributorsMayo, Andrea, Ph.D (Author) / Herbst, Chris M. (Thesis advisor) / Lucio, Joanna (Thesis advisor) / Segal, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
There are federal mandates attached to funding for behavioral health programs that require the use of evidence-based treatments (EBTs) to treat mental health disorders in order to improve clinical outcomes. However, these EBTs have not been constructed with American Indian/Alaskan Native (AI/AN) populations. There are over 340 EBTs, and only two outcome controlled studies have demonstrated effectiveness with AI/AN populations to treat mental health disorders. AI/AN communities often have to select an EBT that is not reflective of their culture, language, and traditions. Although EBTs are frequently used in AI/AN communities, little is known about the adaptation process of these interventions with the AI/AN population. For this study, a qualitative design was used to explore how American Indian behavioral health (AIBH) organizations in the Southwest adapted EBTs for cultural relevancy and cultural appropriateness. One urban and two tribal AIBH programs were recruited for the study. Over a six-week period, 24 respondents (practitioners and cultural experts) participated in a semi-structured interview. Transcripts were analyzed using the constant comparative analysis approach. As a result, four themes emerged: 1) attitudes towards EBTs, 2) how to build culturally competent clinical skills, 3) steps to adapt EBTs, and 4) internal and external organizational factors required to adopt EBTs. The four themes identify how to build a culturally responsive behavioral health program in Indian country and are the purview of this dissertation.
ContributorsPoola, Charlene (Author) / Segal, Elizabeth A. (Thesis advisor) / Mitchell, Felicia M. (Thesis advisor) / Oh, Hyunsung (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
The development of online program options in higher education has prompted the discussion of how well the modality fits the nature of social work education and the Council on Social Work Accreditation (CSWE) educational standards. To examine the relationship between online education and social work education, this research study focused on empathy. Conceptualized as the ability to share and understand the feelings of others, empathy is at the core of social work education and practice. The primary purpose of this research study was to examine whether the cultivation of interpersonal empathy and social empathy changes by in-person and online education. An ongoing debate centers on the effectiveness of online instructional delivery in the virtual environment, as compared to in-person instruction in a physical classroom. Therefore, it is valuable to examine if the level of empathy scores for students changes from the beginning to the end of a Master of Social Work (MSW) degree program at Arizona State University, according to the mode of instruction, online versus in-person. Among the sample of 185 participants in the pre-test survey and 86 participants in the post-test survey, empathy levels were examined by time (pre-test to post-test) and by mode of instructional delivery (online versus in-person). To better understand the constructs and the relationship among the variables, critical theory was applied. In addition, the pedagogical theories of andragogy, transformative learning, and the Community of Inquiry model were informative. Findings revealed that the empathy survey instrument had high reliability, the levels of empathy increased for MSW students over time, and students’ empathy levels did not differ by in-person versus online modes of instruction, with the exception of the social empathy component of contextual understanding. The study findings have implications for social work education and future research. These implications highlight the need to explore how to best cultivate empathy in social work education, while continuing to examine the association of the mode of delivery with educational outcomes important to the profession of social work.
ContributorsReyes, Melanie S (Author) / Segal, Elizabeth A. (Thesis advisor) / Anthony, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Adelman, Madelaine (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
The Housing Choice Voucher Program (“HCVP”) is one of the largest housing subsidy programs targeting low-income households. Despite its history and scale of the program, however, the impact of the HCVP is still unsatisfactory. One of the reasons is landlord discrimination against housing vouchers that prevents voucher families from moving to ‘opportunity neighborhoods’. Although landlord participation in the HCVP is instrumental in achieving the program’s policy goals, as the vouchers’ high demand for rental housing units in ‘opportunity neighborhoods’ cannot be met without it, little systematic discussion has taken place regarding landlords’ perception and strategies for housing vouchers. Based on idiosyncratic text data scraped from five U.S. landlords’ forums, three essays in this dissertation answer questions of housing vouchers, discrimination, and landlords. The first essay identifies the topics that are discussed among landlords regarding housing vouchers and voucher tenants. The second essay examines landlords’ emotions regarding the HCVP and voucher households and analyzes the factors that contribute to their perceptions. The third essay delves into landlords’ strategies toward tenants with housing vouchers and analyzes how their reactions may vary depending on contexts such as the existence of Source of Income protections in state and local jurisdictions. Findings from the three essays provide theoretical and practical implications on landlords and housing vouchers, and the analytic strategies employed in this dissertation expand the scope of methodological approaches that could be used in social science and policy research.
ContributorsCho, Seongkyung (Author) / Lucio, Joanna (Thesis advisor) / Mossberger, Karen (Committee member) / Herbst, Chris M. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021