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John Paul II's Theological Anthropology and the Intersexual Body
No full textRecently, intersexuality has emerged as a challenge to gender-binary theological anthropologies. I argue, using John Paul II’s anthropology, that this challenge fails. I first consider the biological, psychological, and theological literature on intersexuality, focusing especially on the anthropological challenges of Susannah Cornwall and Megan DeFranza. Next, I offer an overview of John Paul II’s theology of the body, identifying important concepts for my arguments: original solitude, the spousal meaning of the body, the body as sign and sacrament, and the language of the body. The spousal meaning of the body is key to John Paul II’s anthropology; it is a constitutive part of being human. I argue that intersexual bodies, despite their ambiguity, have a spousal meaning although it is obscured. I then engage with John Paul II’s critics to demonstrate that an emphasis on the spousal meaning of the body does not invalidate the pope’s anthropology. Next, I turn to original solitude, arguing that John Paul II attributes meaning to the human body that is not dependent on sexual difference. The body manifests the person in solitude, where the first man learns from his body that he is relational. The relationality of human persons is fundamental to the image of God and undergirds the image of God found in communion. Intersexual bodies share human nature and thus experience the bodily call to relationship. Finally, I argue that John Paul II’s eschatology involves a transformation of humankind based on union with God that fulfills the semiotic value of the body. The sign gives way to the mystery: the person fully realized as self-gift. Because the mystery does not depend on the sign, this vision includes intersexual bodies. Relatedly, I argue that celibacy or marriage for persons with intersexual conditions depends on case-by-case considerations. As a result, I call for the development of a theology of single life. I conclude that John Paul II’s theological anthropology provides a vision of humanity that can include intersex people. This vision answers the “frequency dilemma,” by learning from male and female bodies while respecting the humanity of people with ambiguous bodies.TheologySexualityCelibacy, Intersex, John Paul II, Marriage, Sex, Theological AnthropologyMoral Theology/EthicsDegree Awarded: Ph.D. Moral Theology/Ethics. The Catholic University of Americ
Implementation of an Evidence-Based Screening Process for Prediabetes
No full textDiabetes is a chronic health condition affecting millions of adults in the United States and contributing to an increased economic burden caring for these individuals. The high prevalence, incidence, morbidity, and healthcare costs underscore diabetes as a chronic health issue requiring effective intervention (American Diabetes Association [ADA], 2017). The primary objective and purpose of this evidenced-based practice project was to improve prediabetes screening by implementing an evidence-based screening process for prediabetes with primary care providers (PCP) and medical staff to facilitate use of appropriate screening. The appropriate screening criterion consisted of the ADA (2016c) guidelines. This project centered on educating PCPs and their clinical personnel during an in-person educational module session for 20 minutes after the administration of a pretest about prediabetes and diabetes to the PCP and medical staff of one primary care clinic. Four weeks after the education module, the healthcare provider and medical staff completed the posttest and an education module satisfaction survey. The clinical diabetes screening knowledge test (CDSKT) questionnaire scores before and after the prediabetes educational training module yielded significantly positive score differences from pretest to posttest. After the education session, the six CDSKT posttest scores were much improved and more tightly distributed, which suggested the medical staff’s prediabetes knowledge increased following the prediabetes educational training session. Prior to providing the education module, a baseline chart review of 40 randomly selected medical files was conducted to determine the current use and outcomes of prediabetes screenings by the healthcare provider and medical staff. Four weeks after providing the education module and administering the posttest, a second set of 40 randomly selected medical files was acquired for the final chart review. There were 37 charts identified as at risk for prediabetes in the pretest medical file group and 34 charts identified as at risk for prediabetes in the post-intervention medical file group with five (7%) of the posttest charts identified as not at risk for prediabetes. These findings resulted in a combined total of 93% of all charts (i.e., 71 out of 76) at both pretest and posttest showing individuals at risk for prediabetes. This observation supported the necessity for prediabetes screenings in the clinical setting. Initiation of prediabetes management was completed at pretest in 37 (100%) charts; however, only 33 (85%) charts at posttest contained evidence of the initiation of prediabetes management. Although these findings showed prediabetes management was initiated in a significant number of charts, it cannot be determined whether this was a direct result of the prediabetes training module session or standard practices at this facility. The outcomes identified by this project indicated that a better understanding of prediabetes can potentially aid in the early identification of at-risk individuals. This evidence-based practice project has contributed to increasing nursing knowledge in regard to understanding the complex processes required to develop and implement an evidence-based practice project successfully, to decreasing the number of patients developing diabetes and associated complications, and to using scholarship and research for fostering evidence-based practices in nursing. The project demonstrated how a prediabetes education module facilitated increased provider and medical staff knowledge of prediabetes and had an impact on their beliefs regarding prediabetes practices.Nursingdiabetes, education, guidelines, prediabetes, prevention, screeningNursingDegree Awarded: D.N.P. Nursing. The Catholic University of Americ
Wisdom and Theology in Aquinas and Lonergan
No full textThis study examines Thomas Aquinas’s (1224/25—1275) use of wisdom as it relates to the method and foundational order of sacra doctrina and how Bernard Lonergan (1904–1984) interprets, transposes, and develops Aquinas’s work. Despite interpreters of Aquinas often appealing to wisdom in their writings, the topic rarely receives a substantive treatment of its own. Similarly, in Lonergan studies, wisdom has been noted as being of importance to Lonergan, but a full interpretation of his approach to and use of wisdom has yet to appear.The first chapter offers an interpretation of question 1 of the Summa Theologiae through an analysis of Aquinas’s use of wisdom. It also organizes and relates Aquinas’s uses of wisdom to each other. The second chapter turns to Lonergan and his encounter with Thomistic wisdom in Verbum: Word and Idea in Aquinas, then his transposition of that wisdom in Insight: A Study of Human Understanding. The third chapter analyzes Lonergan’s theological texts as they relate to method, order, Christological wisdom and the gift of the Holy Spirit. The fourth chapter examines Lonergan’s early works on theological method, charting his development of the intellectual virtue of wisdom as a foundational tool for method. The final chapter examines Method in Theology, where wisdom is transposed into the realm of interiority with the goals of founding theological method and providing the categories of mediated theology.TheologyBernard Lonergan, theology, Thomas Aquinas, wisdomSystematic TheologyDegree Awarded: Ph.D. Systematic Theology. The Catholic University of Americ
Social Identity Memberships & Critical Consciousness: A Study of Foundation Year MSW Students
No full textSocial inequities are experienced by individuals based upon social identity memberships including gender identity, sexual orientation, race, and socioeconomic status. Cultivating a critical consciousness, i.e., recognizing how social identity membership informs life experience, is important for social workers in effectively serving vulnerable populations experiencing such inequities. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between social identity membership and the levels of critical consciousness within a population of foundation year Master of Social Work (MSW) students within the Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia region. The study recruited 81 participants from four institutions in the region to complete an anonymous online survey. The survey collected respondents’ demographic information and utilized The Critical Consciousness Scale, developed by Diemer (2014), to measure three aspects of critical consciousness: perceptions of social inequalities, endorsement of social egalitarianism, and engagement in sociopolitical activities. Demographic information was utilized to classify respondents into target and agent identity categories. Bivariate and regression analyses were completed to compare mean levels of critical consciousness between target and agent social identity memberships, and to investigate whether social identity membership significantly predicts the levels of critical consciousness while controlling for the effects of participants’ socioeconomic status and institutional affiliations. The results of bivariate analyses indicate that the association between target and agent identity classifications and levels of critical consciousness vary depending on the dimensions of participants’ identity membership. The findings from the hierarchical regression analyses showed that participants’ identity membership only predicted the levels of engagement in sociopolitical activities. Further investigation is needed to determine other factors that may contribute to the levels of critical consciousness. This study implies that systematized, curriculum-based cultural competency standards can mitigate the influence of external factors on student levels of critical consciousness. Consistency in the development of critically conscious social work curriculum can better prepare students to address transgenerational social inequities.Social workSocial sciences educationCritical Consciousness, Cultural Competency, Cultural Humility, Feminism, Feminist Theory, Social ActionSocial WorkDegree Awarded: Ph.D. Social Work. The Catholic University of Americ
The Influence of Rapid Response Team Membership and Call Urgency on Team Function: A Grounded Theory Study
No full textIn response to a hospitalized patient’s deteriorating clinical status, a Rapid Response Team (RRT), a multidisciplinary nurse-led healthcare team, may respond to assess, stabilize, and/or transfer a patient to prevent cardiopulmonary arrest and/or death (Devita, Hillman, & Bellomo, 2011). Several factors challenge RRT and primary team members, including problems with role clarity, communication, decision-making, and leadership during the rapid response event (Beebe et al., 2012; Chalwin et al., 2016; Gallo de Moraes et al., 2018; Miller et al., 2015; O’Horo et al., 2015; Stolldorf et al., 2017). However, there remains a lack of evidence on how the factors of team membership, in and outside the defined RRT, and perceptions of urgency influence team function. Using Corbin and Strauss’ (1998, 2008, 2015) grounded theory approach and theoretical underpinnings of pragmatism and symbolic interactionism, this study explored processes that impact RRT member function, focusing on RRT call urgency and team membership, which enabled the development of a grounded theory. The 26 study participants included a theoretical sample of employees involved in the work of the RRT at one of two Midwest hospitals. In total, 5 primary nurses, 7 RRT nurses, 4 respiratory therapists, 2 chaplains, 2 physicians, and 6 in nursing or respiratory therapy leadership participated in the study. Of these 8 were male and 16 were female. Data collection included audio recorded individual interviews and focus group discussions. The researcher engaged in constant comparison and open, axial, and selective coding of the data to arrive at the key concepts (Corbin & Strauss, 1998, 2008, 2015). Processes of comparison and coding revealed relationships between concepts and supported the creation of a theory which describes the RRTs’ responses to clinical situations (Corbin & Strauss, 1998, 2008, 2015). Data collection and analysis ceased when theoretical saturation was achieved. The study revealed five main themes: resource availability, seeking help, responsiveness, comfort with job role, and teamwork. The substantive theory, Putting Out the Fire, describes processes and factors that facilitate management of patient deterioration and acceleration of patient decline. Findings can guide educational, administrative, and research decisions aimed at optimizing team design and training.Nursinggrounded theory, rapid response, team performance, team structure, urgencyNursingDegree Awarded: Ph.D. Nursing. The Catholic University of Americ
Spirit and Atonement in the Theology of Frank Sheed
No full textFrancis (Frank) Joseph Sheed (1897–1981) was an Australian-born lay Catholic theologian of Irish descent who lived most of his adult life in England and the United States. He was a publisher, evangelizer, street-corner/outdoor speaker, lecturer, and writer. His important contributions include his work with the Catholic Evidence Guild (an outdoor speaking society), his published books, his many lecture tours throughout the English-speaking world, and his work as co-owner of the transatlantic Catholic book publishing firm Sheed & Ward (which he owned with his wife, Mary “Maisie” Josephine Ward). In his published works, Sheed provides analyses of a wide variety of theological topics including ecclesiology, Christology, the Trinity, Christian anthropology, the sacraments, and eschatology, among many others. The central theological key to Sheed’s theological program is atonement understood (and pronounced) as at-one-ment. At-one-ment means the real union of the members of the Church with God and one another. Sheed argues that this at-one-ment is the ultimate purpose for our existence which is made possible by Christ’s salvific work of at-one-ment, but he also explains how members of the Church variously achieve at-one-ment throughout their lives in different ways, namely via baptism and living the supernatural life, incorporation into the Mystical Body of Christ, and during the celebration of the Mass and the reception of the Eucharist. Sheed proclaims that unless we comprehend the nature and purpose of human beings we cannot properly understand anything and “live mentally in the real world” (Sheed calls this type of living “sanity”). He explains that a human being is a union of matter and spirit, and that the latter and primary principle makes the human person a being capable of knowing and loving God and neighbor, and thus achieving at-one-ment. Sheed’s understanding of spirit is therefore a fundamental concept without which he could not explain his idea of at-one-ment understood at the real union of spirits. Armed with this knowledge of the nature of human beings and the purpose of life, Catholics can live their lives as truly intended by God and can attain eternal at-one-ment with God in heaven.Theologyat-one-ment, atonement, Frank Sheed, Sheed, spiritSystematic TheologyDegree Awarded: Ph.D. Systematic Theology. The Catholic University of Americ
Exploring the Connections between Child Welfare Workers’ Burnout, Role Strain, Support, and Organizational Commitment
No full textThe social work profession has a long tradition of involvement with the child welfare system. The very core of social work practice in child welfare lies in the relationship between the workers and the children and families served by the child welfare organizational system. Workers’ organizational commitment significantly impacts workforce practices, and workers’ commitment to child welfare is critical to the quality of their work and child and family outcomes. Yet, in recent years, research has revealed that workers’ lack of organizational commitment poses an ongoing problem for nearly half a million children in the United States, and that workers’ higher levels of burnout and role strain reduce their commitment, leading to poorer child and family outcomes; whereas workers’ higher levels of agency support increase their organizational commitment, improving their retention and work efforts. However, there is a problem in how the connections between workers’ burnout, role strain, and agency support have been studied and applied in practice. In research, workers’ burnout, role strain, and agency support have been studied as total constructs operationalized from different variable components. Yet in practice, only the individual components have been applied for building intervention efforts to improve workers’ organizational commitment, showing a gap in research, as these individual components lack empirical evidence of their individual importance to workers’ organizational commitment. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to reduce this gap in research, and contribute new empirical knowledge on the relationship between the discrete components of burnout, role strain, and agency support, and the workers’ organizational commitment in child welfare. Both social exchange theory and person-in-environment perspective support the direction of this study by addressing the dynamic processes that take place between workers and their agency environments in child welfare. Using the 2011 National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being (NSCAW-II) de-identified data from the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect (NDACAN), this author conducts secondary analysis and investigates whether workers’ perceptions of individual components of burnout, role strain, and agency support, predict their organizational commitment in child welfare, when their gender, education, length of employment, and caseload size, are controlled. Results include a representative and well powered sample of N = 2346, representing 83% of workers’ with complete data on their organizational commitment and consisting of primarily urban workers providing predominantly direct care services to children and families in child welfare. Applying a multiple regression analysis reveals a statistically significant model with 5 (out of 7) predictors explaining 64% of variance in workers’ organizational commitment. Workers’ reports on opportunities to grow and advance and on personal accomplishments were the strongest predictors, followed by workers’ emotional exhaustion, agency support for staff cooperation, and role conflict. Workers’ depersonalization in burnout and overload in role strain, did not predict commitment. As workers’ opportunities for growth and advancement and personal accomplishment are largely within the control of the agency, findings bear important implication for practice and policy in child welfare. Other implications, study limitation, and recommendations for future research are discussed as well.Social workburnout, child welfare, organizational commitment, organizational support, role strainSocial WorkDegree Awarded: Ph.D. Social Work. The Catholic University of Americ
BEND
No full textMia Flores lives in rural Joshua Tree, California, with her immigrant father. When she is sixteen, her father is forced to find alternative work and secures summer housing for Mia with an All- American family in Bend, Oregon. In a small, unsuspecting town, Mia is forced to explore her preconceived notions about how the better half lives under the pressing thumb of her changing adolescence. While the summer passes, she meets two fellow friends, Arlynn and Jean, who help her understand what it takes to grow up and escape the landscape of their failing American ideals.Creative writingBEND, Coming of age, Escalante, Hispanic, LatinX, Young AdultLiteratureDegree Awarded: M.F.A. Literature. American Universit
Nicolás Interview, May 19, 2020
No full textEighth-grader Nicolás shares how COVID has impacted his life. He says that he hasn't been able to see his friends, and worries that because school has been cancelled, that high school will not start when it is supposed to for him. Nicolás talks about how his family and friends have kept him going, and hopes that we can all learn to set our differences aside to solve this problem as fast as we can. This video is part of the Humanities Truck's From Me To You: A Covid-19 Oral History Project. https://humanitiestruck.com/frommetoyou
Amory Orchard Interview, May 28, 2020
No full textAmory Orchard, a PhD student in Rhetoric and Composition at Florida State University, discusses the personal and professional impacts of COVID. As both a teacher and a student, she shares how this crisis has put her life into "a stasis of constant reflection" as she, along with others in her field, questioned how to transition to online. She has found that a mix of synchronous and asynchronous teaching is best, to check-in often with students but also to accomodate those whose access to technology is limited. Amory has found support among her students, as well as her graduate cohort, her family, and her cat, Teddy. She hopes that we will learn to check in with each other more, even when there is not a pandemic. This video is part of the Humanities Truck's From Me To You: A Covid-19 Oral History Project. https://humanitiestruck.com/frommetoyou