Promoting Feast or Surviving Famine: The Financial Implications of Social Enterprise for Nonprofit Human Service Organizations
Year of Dissertation:
2011
PROMOTING FEAST OR SURVIVING FAMINE: THE FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS OF SOCIAL ENTERPRISE FOR NONPROFIT HUMAN SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS
THE INFLUENCE OF HIV RISK CO-FACTORS AND SEXUAL NETWORKS FACTORS ON HIV RISK BEHAVIORS AMONG BLACK MSM
Author:
Laurens Van Sluytman
Year of Dissertation:
2010
This project uses the theory of eco-social epidemiology to enhance the social work perspectives on social justice and person in environment to correct the tendency to focus on individual level change interventions in public health and social work in the HIV sectors. In doing so, it moves beyond a single lens exploration of risk factors to a deeper examination of the multiple relationships that exist between risk co-factors, sexual networks and high-risk behavior among Black MSM. Using secondary analysis of data collected during the quantitative phase of the CDC-funded Brothers y Hermanos (ByH) research project (2003-2006), the project explored the structural, socio-cultural, psychological, and behavioral dimensions relevant to understanding risk for transmitting or contracting HIV for 614 MSM who identified as Black among the ByH respondents, of whom 36.3% reported being negative, indeterminate or unaware of their HIV status. A quarter (24.9%) of participants were between 41-45 years of age, followed by age group 46-50 years (18.1%).63% resided in NYC for 21 years or more, with 15.3% having resided in New York for 5 years or less, and 6% residing in the region between 16 - 20 years.
Being With Difference: Parenting Experiences of Gay Adoptive Fathers
Year of Dissertation:
2012
Increasingly more gay men are becoming parents or desire to become parents. Families headed by openly gay fathers live in environments that are still largely homophobic and heterosexist. This study describes the challenges, opportunities, and rewards gay adoptive fathers experience at home and in their communities. In-depth phenomenological interviews were conducted with gay adoptive fathers from 20 families (18 gay couples and 2 single gay men). Fathers adopted children through both domestic and international routes. The children of the fathers ranged in age from 9 months to 22 years. Using a social constructionist lens and descriptive phenomenological analysis, themes within each interview and across interviews were identified.
Situational Predictors of Adolescent Homicide: A Secondary Analysis
Year of Dissertation:
2009
At every age and within all racial and ethnic groups, males are more likely than females to be victims and perpetrators of serious physical violence. Sex differences in victimization and offending rates are maintained globally and historically. Research also documents the intrasexual nature of violence and indicates that outcomes from male-to-male assaultive encounters range from no injury to death. This study employed a probability sample of adjudicated violent adolescent offenders in New York State to investigate juvenile perpetrated male-to-male violence. Using a sociological framework that encompasses theories of criminal lethality and compulsory masculinity, background characteristics were assessed to delineate structural-cultural factors that dispose adolescent males to violent interaction. Crime characteristics were also examined to differentiate between assaultive encounters that end in death of the victim (i.e. homicide) and those that do not (i.e. aggravated assault). The results of this investigation confirm theoretical predictions and empirical literature regarding male honor contest violence, as well as situational factors affecting death from assault. The largest portion of these male-to-male confrontations involved Black and Latino adolescents as both victims and offenders. The vast majority of encounters were motivated by some form of "face" or respect dispute. Adolescent perpetrators generally resided in communities with very high rates of neighborhood violence, drug trafficking, and availability of guns. These youth maintained alpha male lifestyles - namely, participation in drug trade, association with violent peer groups, and experiences with guns - that increased their exposure to violence. Notwithstanding the similarity of background characteristics, homicides and aggravated assaults were statistically different with respect to several features of the immediate situational context, especially the type of weapon involved, guns to which they had access, and offenders' specific intent to do harm. Social service models and social work practice principles are discussed in relation to the findings of this study.
Accreditation's Impact on Organizational Capacity: A Data-Mining Study
Author:
Brenda Williams-Gray
Year of Dissertation:
2009
This study explores what relationship, if any, exists between accreditation and organizational capacity in nonprofit social service organizations. Organizational capacity refers to the total output or activity necessary to achieve the organization's mission; it is inclusive of eight elements, deemed by the literature, as relevant for organizations' effectiveness and sustainability. The Council on Accreditation (COA), a national accrediting body, affords organizations the opportunity to implement nationally-vetted administrative and management standards, intended to build organizational capacity.
THE EXPERIENCES OF INCARCERATED MOTHERS AFFECTED BY SEPARATION FROM THEIR CHILDREN: THE IMPACT OF THE ROCKEFELLER DRUG LAWS
Year of Dissertation:
2010
THE EXPERIENCES OF INCARCERATED MOTHERS AFFECTED BY SEPARATION FROM THEIR CHILDREN: THE IMPACT OF THE ROCKEFELLER DRUG LAWS