Amid the escalating death tolls and the unknowns about the COVID-19 virus, the nation witnessed an endemic of publicized violence against Black people by vigilantes and police officers. Current literature fails to adequately explore the lived experiences of community college leaders as they serve students, sustain programs, or teach while…

This study examines a group of four English educators, two women of color and two white women, who self-identified as teachers for social justice as they formed a teacher inquiry group, called a teacher inquiry circle, as they attempt to become antiracist. The purpose of the inquiry circle was to answer the call to action for more equitable…

The needs of a school community following the death of a student or staff member are not something every educator and/or school administrator may be prepared to address. Multidisciplinary crisis response teams, particularly those operating at the district level, are equipped to respond to such situations rapidly and effectively. School…

Scholars and policymakers alike have recognized mass incarceration and criminal recidivism as two of the most profound challenges American society faces. For more than half a century, the United States has been the world's most prominent incarcerator, boasting the highest incarceration rate and the third-highest recidivism rate, with analysts…

The discourse of race and racism reached an apex nationally and internationally following the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020. The responses to this racialized violence and murder was widespread and varied from social media posts to mass protests in the streets. The primary response of institutions of higher education was to issue a public…

This dissertation studies different social factors that affect students' cognitive, non-cognitive skills, and behaviors. The first chapter provides evidence on the immediate effects of exposure to violent crimes on academic performance and externalizing behaviors among high school students. I find that exposure to violent crimes decreases PSAT,…

The purpose of this qualitative, descriptive multiple case study was to explore what process, policies and procedures, or set of empirically supported norms governed law enforcement officers in a selected county in the southwest region of the United States when threat assessments were conducted on potentially violent subjects threatening mass…

Mass murder in the United States is increasing, yet understanding of mass murderers is still relatively limited. Many perpetrators compose manifestos, which include journals, blogs, letters, videos, and other writings. Previous research has indicated that personal messages are of great social and psychological importance; however, there remains an…

Crisis management is a critical issue facing higher education. Higher education leaders and campus safety advocates agree that the Virginia Tech massacre changed perceptions and approaches to campus safety at colleges and universities nationally. In the University of North Carolina System, it was the two murders of University of North Carolina at…

Over the last decade, school rampage shootings have taken multiple lives and caused widespread fear throughout the United States. During this same period, there have also been dozens of averted incidents where student plots to kill multiple peers and faculty members came to the attention of authorities and thus were thwarted. This dissertation…

Filicide, the killing of a child by a parent, is the focus of this meta-study. In the United States, the total number of nonaccidental deaths of children at the hands of a parent is unknown. Five children a day under the age of five die from fatal abuse and neglect (U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect, 1995). This number is a…