Dark side of information systems and protection of children online: examining predatory behavior and victimization of children within social media

Protecting children online from sexual predators has been a focus of research in psychiatry, sociology, computer science, and information systems (IS) for many years. However, the anonymity afforded by social media has made finding a solution to the problem of child protection difficult. Pedophiles manipulate conversation (discourse) with children in social media in order to exercise power, control and coercion over children leading to their psychological and often physical victimization. Recent IS research points to "individuals, groups, and organizations that have been transformed - in intended and unintended ways - by technology" (Dang and Brown 2010, p. 2). This research examines a darker side of social media that demonstrates unintended consequences that are negatively transforming and affecting lives of children who fall victim to predatory coercion. There is a critical need for information systems research to investigate and understand how sexual predators victimize children online. The knowledge gained could help society as a whole to develop interventions to better protect children online, enabling them to use valuable online resources for education, social development and becoming better citizens in the future. In this context, this dissertation contributes to the larger research narrative of information systems and critical social issues. This dissertation comprises three studies. Study 1 addresses how online sexual predators use social media, as a discursive system, to propagate their ideology of acceptance of sexual acts between adults and children. Study 2 addresses how online sexual predators use and manipulate the text of institutional logics within negotiated cyber-social realities to victimize children. Study 3 examines how online sexual predators use text to construct and control negotiated cyber-social realities during the online victimization of children. Across these three studies we examined how online sexual predators used computer-mediated communications to coerce and victimize children within social media. This research introduces: (1) critical discourse analysis in information systems research to critically examine the role of social media in society, (2) an example of a mixed methods research combining critical discourse analysis, structured content analysis and grounded theory approach for the development of theory in social media and, (3) the use of institutional logics to examine social media phenomena. The central contribution of this dissertation is the development of theoretical models that uncover ways in which power relations and effects of pedophilic ideology are manifested in language and discourse between pedophiles and children in social media. The resulting theoretical models of: (1) pedophilic ideology manifestation, coercion and victimization of children in social media, (2) cyber-victimization logic and, (3) negotiated cyber-social realities provide the foundation for further research, social intervention and policy formulation that lead to better protection of children in social media. Additionally, we present a matrix of predatory coercion and victimization of children within social media that aggregates the results of all three studies. This dissertation aims to contribute beyond the traditional focus of IS research on business and organizations, leveraging the wealth of knowledge from IS research to positively impact societal causes that affect the lives of millions of our fellow citizens - in this particular research - millions of children that are the most vulnerable population in our society. These contributions aim to empower the powerless and expose power abuse as expressed in coercion of children leading to their victimization

Motivators of adult women enrolled in a community college

The goal of this study was to describe what motivates adult women enrolled in a community college to pursue higher education. Utilizing profile analysis and multiple regression analyses, this study investigated the extent to which gender, English as a first language, and age predicted the seven factors of the Education Participation Scale (A- form) comprised of (1) Communication Improvement, (2) Social Contact, (3) Educational Preparation, (4) Professional Advancement, (5) Family Togetherness, (6) Social Stimulation, and (7) Cognitive Interest (Boshier, 1991). Data collection involved administering an online survey to 367 students enrolled in a large urban community college in the Southeastern United States. Twenty-eight percent were males and 72% were females. The majority of students were in their early 30s (M=33.7, SD=12.1). Ethnicity of the group varied with 47% White/Caucasian (N=173), 36% African-American/Black (N=133), 10% Latino/Hispanic (N=38), 6% Asian-American/Asian (N=21), and 1% Native American/ Alaskan (N=2). Fifteen percent of the participants indicated they speak a language other than English as their first language. The results indicated that females were most motivated by Professional Advancement, followed by Cognitive Interest, Educational Preparation, Communication Improvement, Family Togetherness, Social Contact, and finally Social Stimulation. In short, females seem to be less motivated by social reasons (i.e. Social Contact, Social Stimulation, Family Togetherness), and more motivated by practical reasons (i.e. Professional Advancement, Cognitive Interest, Educational Preparation). A profile analysis demonstrated that the motivational profiles for males and females can be considered coincident with similar profiles for the genders. Multiple regression results indicated that gender was not a significant predictor of motivation, but age of respondent and students who spoke English as their first language were predictors of several motivational factors. In general, older students place less importance on social reasons to attend school, such as Communication Improvement, Social Contact, and Social Stimulation. Students who speak English as a second language are more likely to value Communication Improvement, Social Contact, Family Togetherness, Social Stimulation and Cognitive Interest than students who speak English as their first language. The current findings seem to indicate that most females (and males) value attending college in order to obtain better employment options and to prepare to take even higher level classes later. The research implies incorporating course content related to a student’s career goals would assist with student motivation, such as using examples related to career interests in developmental classes. This strategy would also tap into Cognitive Interest, which is the second most important motivator for females

Broaching behaviors of Licensed Professional Counselors: A qualitative inquiry

This qualitative study explored broaching behaviors of licensed professional Counselors during intakes with clients who have addictions. Five themes emerged: (a) to broach or not to broach, (b) follow the client's lead, (c) right timing, (d) counselor willingness, and (e) which cultural characteristics are considered

A comparison of factors that influence the quality of PEPs in Title I schools

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between school-based organizational structures that support teachers’ development of Personalized Education Plans (PEPs) and their quality as written for third through fifth grade students in each of two Title I schools. A causal comparative design was implemented. Teachers’ responses on a survey and the quality of PEPs gathered in each of the two schools were compared to address the following research questions: a) What are the differences in teachers’ perceptions of school-based factors that support their PEP development when comparing teachers in the two Title I schools? b) What differences in the quality of PEPs exist when comparing PEP samples collected at each of the Title I schools? c) Are teachers’ perceptions regarding the level of support they receive toward developing PEPs a predictor of the quality of PEPs written

Broaching as a strategy for intercultural understanding in clinical supervision

Broaching cultural similarities and differences with genuine, respectful inquisitiveness is an important supervisory intervention. Broaching allows supervisors to acknowledge the relevance of cultural identities and invite supervisee dialogue. Through dialogue, supervisors are tasked with openly receiving what is said by supervisees and working through ideas to maximize the effectiveness of supervision. In this practical article, broaching as an intervention in supervision is described. The importance of clinical supervision, the intercultural nature of supervision, sample broaching prompts, and recommendations for supervisors are also included

“Dreamkeepers”: School Experiences From The Voices Of Successful Adult African American Males

While there is an abundance of literature portraying the African American male in a negative light, this study focused on successful African American males and explored educational practices that contributed to their academic success. This study asked successful Black adult school leaders to reflect on their early school experiences and to discuss the impact of their school experiences on their academic success. In addition, this study explored the commitments successful adult males made to support young Black males and focused on the guidance these men provided to support school success. In this interpretive qualitative study, a phenomenological approach was employed to document, in their own voices, the early school experiences of successful African American male school administrators. Ladson-Billings’ (2009) characteristics and critical dimensions of culturally relevant teaching were employed to guide this study. Results indicated that the Black adult male participants experienced academic success during their early school experiences and that they have success stories to voice despite the predominance of negative research in the literature. These African American male school leaders experienced teachers that Ladson-Billings would describe as Dreamkeepers

A Liberal Education: Making the Essentials Practical

The newly revised Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice states that “a solid base in liberal education provides the cornerstone for the practice and education of nurses.”1(p3) Liberal education is thought to provide professional nurses with some of the necessary skills needed to practice nursing, including critical thinking, effective communication, collaboration with others, appreciation of diversity, and the integration of knowledge from the sciences and humanities to solve problems. However, liberal education is viewed by many faculty as separate from the nursing curriculum: the courses taken prior to the nursing courses. Seeking strategies that would require students in our required gerontology nursing course to incorporate princi-ples of liberal education, we developed the Life Review Project

Counseling students’ emotions during cultural immersion: Impact on reactance

Counselor trainees’ multicultural development is a process that engenders strong emotions. The authors inventoried students’ emotions in cultural immersion activities and assessed their impact on course reactance. Findings indicated that reactance was shaped by both negative and positive emotions and that cultural immersion can be universally challenging for students

Representation Of Work Experiences Within The Poetry Of Four Contemporary Southern Appalachian Poets

Work experiences as they appear in contemporary Southern Appalachian poetry are issues that have yet to be explored. Critics examine the work of Southern Appalachian poets sometimes as romantic, celebrating a bygone era, rather than examining it in the context of the working class. Topics discussed in this study of working-class experiences include "women's work" in the poetry of Kathryn Stripling Byer, "farm work" in Robert Morgan's poetry, work in textile mills and manual labor within the poetry of Ron Rash, and social issues along with character identity through working individuals in the poetry of Bennie Lee Sinclair

Multicultural orientation in clinical supervision: Examining impact through dyadic data

Clinical supervision can support supervisee cultural development through the relationship and preparation for counseling practice. Supervisor modeling of cultural conversations can aid in this development. Using dyadic data to examine how multicultural orientation (MCO) functions in supervision, we found supervisor cultural humility and missed opportunities to discuss culture both predicted the supervisory working alliance. Diverging from research on MCO in counseling, supervisee growth in ethnocultural empathy and cultural behaviors was not traceable to supervisor cultural humility. Finally, a test of correspondence between supervisor and supervisee assessments of cultural behaviors supported critiques that self-ratings contain biases, particularly for novice counselors