This research sterns from twelve months of ethnographic research with Haitian migrant women who reside in "Batey Sol", a former sugar-company labor camp located along the "Linea Noroeste" (northwest line) linking the Dominican Rebulic's border town of Dajabon with the urban center of Santiago. The multi-sited study considers…

Building on 18 months of fieldwork in the Bolivian highlands, this dissertation examines how traversing landscapes, through the mediation of spatial practices and spoken words, are embedded in systems of belief. By focusing on "wak'as" (i.e. sacred objects) and on how the inhabitants of the Altiplano relate to the Andean deities known as…

The purpose of this study was to examine the etiology and cultural underpinnings of adolescent violence as collective case study analysis of three inter-related groups: psychiatrically hospitalized rural adolescents, their parent/guardian, and various hospital staff. Violence among adolescents is a serious societal issue that has had varying…

As school districts integrate evidence-based prevention programs into their daily regime, they may struggle with implementing these programs with fidelity. This is a multi-method, multi-source, retrospective explanatory study of the implementation factors associated with program installation and partial implementation of an evidence-based violence…

Frequently, parents, educators, and even government leaders express concern over the continuing violence, as well as the breakdown of discipline within our schools (Boulter, 2004). The purpose of this study was to examine if teacher attitudes influence policy and practice in establishing and enforcing middle school student discipline, and if these…

Keeping schools safe and productive is an increasing concern for educators everywhere. This research focused on how one elementary school in West Fargo, North Dakota, implemented a school wide discipline approach to help decrease negative student behaviors. The researcher compared and contrasted three different discipline models. The researcher…

In an effort to safeguard the learning environment, school administrators generally rely on district or local school guidelines and professional judgment. With new technology, the proliferation of drug use, and increased school violence, schools have become a complex environment to manage for both system and local leadership. Administrators are…

This study assessed the effects of a modified version of Check & Connect, a comprehensive student engagement intervention, on the attendance, behavior, and academic performance of secondary African American females with violent and aggressive behavior problems. In addition, the Student Engagement Instrument (SEI) was used to assess cognitive…

For educators in the field of higher education and judicial affairs, issues are growing. Campus adjudicators must somehow maximize every opportunity for student education and development in the context of declining resources and increasing expectations of public accountability. Numbers of student misconduct cases, including matters of violence and…

The purpose of this study was to uncover the perspectives that pertain to the literacy experiences of young Hispanic boys. Hispanic boys will be asked to describe, feel, judge, and make sense of their "public and private literacies" (Faulkner, 2005). This phenomenological study embraces two methods of data collection, participant focus groups and…

There has been a growing movement toward expanding biomedical psychiatric models focused on individual psychopathology using contextually-sensitive, socio-politically informed, ecological approaches, and resilience and recovery perspectives emphasizing individuals' rights to access the necessary resources to resume life pursuits (e.g. education)…

The purpose of this study was to examine the behavioral and demographic characteristics of deaf males enrolled at state school for the Deaf. An analysis of student, family, and educational variables was conducted in order to provide a composite description of both the type and frequency of the offenses and of the offender. Participants were 90…