4449 research outputs found
Sort by
Drones as First Responders
No full textWith the demand for law and order to match the growing complexities of lawlessness, law enforcement has had to adapt to the ever-rising surge of danger by embracing innovative strategies and technologies, which provide the edge of today's first responders the ability to protect and serve their communities. Over the years, incorporating drones into law enforcement agencies has led the way to making them a part of drones-as-first-responder programs, which play a pivotal role in modern-day public safety and emergency response. The attraction of drones in public safety shows how more agencies are incorporating this new technology for various reasons to improve abilities in situations such as search and rescue, crime scene documentation, search for suspects, and photogrammetry for accident reconstruction. These are the reasons that are now the driving factor for law enforcement agencies to adopt drones- as-first-responders, which can improve response efficiency, address staffing issues, and attribute to de-escalation efforts. Providing real-time aerial over-watch and allowing first responders to conduct safety assessments from a safe distance will enable them to make educated decisions rapidly. This is why all law enforcement agencies should have drones-as-first-responder programs. Having technology that can provide first responders with high-definition digital zoom cameras, thermal imaging, and automated technology to fly autonomously will promote safety by minimizing the risk of sending first responders into potentially dangerous situations. This solidifies that implementing a drone-as-first-responder program can create accountability and enhance community trust by embracing this technology and creating a safer environment for citizens and first responders.LEMI
Faith Amidst Adversity: Childhood Trauma, Religiosity, and Delinquency
No full textThere is a well-established relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and offending among adolescents. These patterns correspond closely with Agnew’s general strain theory, which expects that strainful experiences will engender negative emotional states and eventuate in crime and delinquency. Additionally, while extensive theory and research indicate that religiosity is inversely associated with offending, it is unclear what the role of this factor might be in the relationship between
ACEs and delinquency. Theoretically, it is plausible that ACEs might reduce religiosity
which, in turn, increases delinquent involvement. Alternatively, attendance at religious
services might serve as a form of social support that buffers the harmful consequences of
ACEs. This study will examine: (1) the independent effects of ACEs and religious
attendance on delinquency, (2) the indirect effects of religiosity in the ACEs-delinquency
relationship, and (3) the moderating effect of religious attendance on the association
between ACEs and delinquency. This study uses data from the 2024 Florida Youth
Substance Abuse Survey (FYSAS), which was administered to a statewide sample of
students in Florida public middle schools and high schools. The findings reveal limited
indirect and interactive effects of religious attendance as expected, but supplementary
findings show that the ACEs-delinquency is instead closely tied to youths’ adherence to
deviant moral beliefs
Law Enforcement Agencies Should Recognize the Effects of PTSD on Law Enforcement Officers
No full textLaw enforcement officers throughout the nation perform a critical and necessary need for the benefit of society. However, they are at an increased risk of exposure to trauma, experiencing PTSD, and are more likely to be in contact with mental health consumers than the public (Soomro & Yanos 2018). As a result, law enforcement officers have a greater risk of developing mental health problems than those of the general populace (Soomro & Yanos 2018). Even armed with the knowledge that their exposure and experiences can cause mental and physical harm; law enforcement officers are reticent to seek mental health treatment. Law enforcement agencies need to be proactive in developing policies, procedures, and programs that offer these men and women a guilt and judgment-free avenue to mental health maintenance. Law enforcement agencies need to be at the forefront of combating the effects of stress and PTSD on officers and begin treating them with the same dignity and respect as any other mental health consumer. Agencies and individual officers must also combat the stigma of being affected by mental health concerns. The public scrutiny of an officer seeking treatment can be just as harmful as the effects of PTSD. Law enforcement agency administrators must also contend with manpower and staffing issues when employees are seeking treatment. This burden is usually shifted to personnel who work different assignments and shifts and are forced into an overtime situation to fill the vacancy. Agency administrators should strive to keep their employees mentally and physically healthy as it leads to a more productive and content work environment.LEMI
Law Enforcement Officers Should Consider Sports as a Way to Improve Their Physical and Mental Health
No full textLaw enforcement officers have a stressful job that negatively contributes to their physical and mental health. Studies have consistently shown that law enforcement officers have a higher risk of cardiovascular events and suicide. It is important to reduce these factors and improve the physical and mental health of law enforcement officers. Sports have numerous physical and mental health benefits. Sports provide physical fitness activity that improves cardiovascular health. Sports have been shown to increase mental health through a social aspect of belonging. Sports-related skills transfer over to many work-related areas. Learning a new sport improves cognitive skills, fostering a growth mindset. The positive impacts of sports can be beneficial in improving the overall health of law enforcement. Law enforcement should participate in sports as a tool to improve their quality of life.LEMI
WOMEN, RADICAL FEMINISM, AND GENDER INEQUALITY: CHALLENGING THE MANOSPHERE
No full textThe Manosphere emerged as an online community, where men promote
traditional gender ideology as a backlash against feminism. Research has illustrated
men’s performance of gender in the Manosphere, but women’s words and actions remain
understudied. Some frameworks suggest women may reproduce gender inequality as an
adaptive strategy to survive in the Manosphere, while others argue that women who
identify with a collective sense of womanhood likely challenge inequality in these spaces.
This study explores the gendered performances of female panelists on FreshandFit, a controversial YouTube channel boasting over 1.5 million followers, to better understand women’s actions in the Manosphere, through a qualitative content analysis that examined what women said and did. The male co-hosts and production team of FreshandFit routinely invite female panelists to have a conversation
about relationships, submission, stay-at-home mothers, and a host of other topics
reflecting traditional gender norms.
Findings provided some evidence that female panelists both challenged and
reproduced gender inequality, but at the end of the day, they were more successful in
reproducing it. This could be because women appeared to be manipulated by patriarchal
norms and systems. Additionally, female panelists do not consistently support one
another in these spaces. Finally, nonverbal cues contribute to gender inequality by
embodying disrespect and impatience through frequent interruptions. Based on these
findings, I assert that the best strategy to challenge these sexist platforms lies in
increasing awareness of the harm they impose on women, empowering women to
dismantle the Manosphere
NAVIGATING THE DUAL WORLDS: THE LIVED EXPERIENCES OF BILINGUAL HISPANIC COUNSELORS
No full textThis qualitative transcendental phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of bilingual Hispanic counselors navigating cultural competence and bilingualism within therapeutic practice. Guided by Moustakas’ phenomenological approach and framed through Bandura’s Self Efficacy Theory, the study sought to understand how bilingual Hispanic counselors integrate linguistic and cultural identities in their clinical work. A purposive sample of fully licensed bilingual Hispanic counselors across the United States participated in semi-structured interviews, sharing their personal and professional reflections on challenges such as language anxiety, cultural dissonance, and systemic barriers within counselor education and clinical settings. Through a detailed analysis of their narratives, the study identified key themes related to emotional labor, code-switching, and the dual role of being both cultural mediator and clinician. The research question focused on how bilingual Hispanic counselors make meaning of their roles as culturally competent and linguistically responsive professionals. The findings offer a deeper understanding of how language, identity, and self-efficacy intersect in the therapeutic space, with implications for counselor education, supervision, organizational policies. This study contributes to ongoing efforts to support bilingual clinicians and improve culturally and linguistically responsive care for underserved Spanish-speaking communities
The Relationship between Multiplication Fact Automaticity, Mature Number Sense, Mathematics Anxiety, and Mathematics Success: A Community College Study
Get PDFThe purpose of this quasi-experimental dissertation study was to test the hypothesis that mathematics anxiety, multiplication fact automaticity (MFA), and mature number sense (MNS) predict student success in developmental and entry-level mathematics courses for students at a community college in the upper Midwest. During the first month of the Fall semester, students were asked to complete a 5-minute assessment of the 100 basic multiplication facts from 0–9, the mathematics anxiety questionnaire (Wigfield & Meece, 1988), a two-tier MNS assessment on judging the reasonableness of an answer developed over time by Yang and his colleagues and presented in Lin et al. (2016), and a brief demographic survey. Students’ final letter grade in their mathematics course was collected at the end of the semester. Ordinal logistic regression analyses were conducted separately for two groups: the students in the developmental mathematics sequence and those in an entry-level college mathematics course. Both models were statistically significant in predicting a passing letter grade of A, B, or C. Multivariate analyses of variance were conducted to determine differences between groups by gender and race/ethnicity. Again, both were statistically significant, with mathematics anxiety being the most discriminating variable for gender and MNS being the most discriminative variable for race/ethnicity
Whatzit?
Get PDFAfter submitting “Mapping and Stamping Hall’s Shipwreck on Timoe” (page 4), I received a postcard purported to show the schooner Pro Patria. I had purchased this on eBay, but it arrived after a month, so it was not included in the original article. I decided to pass this on for Whatzit
Exploring An Evolution Of Illicit Substance Use: A Meta-Synthesis And Qualitative Investigation Of Those Who Microdose Psychedelics
Get PDFWith the arrival of the new phenomenon of microdosing came the unique practice of consuming classic psychedelic substances (e.g., LSD [lysergic acid diethylamide] and psilocybin) in methods previously unheard of. Experiences of euphoria are expectedly the desired result of traditional illicit substance use; however, in the processes of microdosing, such experiences are avoided explicitly in place of other self-bettering results that are believed to arise. Not only has the act of microdosing psychedelics become more commonplace in society, but such acts have also demonstrated a likely potential in treating various ailments, such as general anxiety, depression, and stress. Specific methods and understandings remain unknown regarding: (1) What the past
decade of scholarship observing microdosing from a qualitative lens has uncovered about this unique form of substance use, (2) how people who microdose psychedelic substances both learn and adopt the typically strict protocols for microdosing, and (3) how people who microdose describe their behavior in methods that seek to distance microdosing from other forms of deviant behavior. To uncover more details regarding each of these queries,
a subcultural lens is used as a framework to analyze how people transfer the various methods and values of those who are inexperienced with microdosing, as well as semi-structured interviews with people who microdose psychedelics to explore new perspectives of this practice. A meta-synthesis of 14 qualitative microdosing research studies from the past decade is used to inform grander concepts previously unknown while also discussing needed future research avenues for investigating the microdosing of psychedelics. Findings provide insight as to how people transfer the protocols of microdosing, learn processes to develop persistence in this community, and discover why microdosing remains one of the fastest-growing forms of illicit substance use while also declaring itself as being entirely incomparable to other forms of illicit substance use
Creating a Strong Foundation for Sustainable Mental Wellness to Include Physical Fitness in Police Academies to Enhance Officer Resilience and Performance
Get PDFProviding a comprehensive mental wellness program that includes physical fitness training in police academy curricula is an effective way to improve officer performance and well-being. Police officers face a challenging array of physical, mental, and emotional stressors, which can result in higher-than-average rates of heart disease, stress, and suicide. Traditional approaches to police academy training emphasize academic knowledge and state test preparation, leaving limited time to address physical fitness and even less time spent on crucial wellness factors that directly impact officers' long-term health and resilience. Five identified pillars of mental wellness—restorative sleep, healthy eating, social connection, helping others, and physical activity—are critical components of a successful law enforcement career. Sustained emphasis should be placed on physical fitness, as regular exercise has been shown to significantly reduce stress and improve resilience under high-stress conditions, benefiting officers' overall mental health. This paper advocates physical and mental wellness alongside mandatory state requirements, proposing practical strategies to incorporate wellness training in academy programs. Potential counterarguments, including resource constraints and injury risks, are addressed; however, the long-term benefits to officers' health and community safety outweigh these concerns. Implementing these initiatives in police academies lays a foundation for well-being that can contribute to healthier, more effective officers, thereby enhancing their quality of life and capacity to serve their communities.LEMI