Sex trafficking in the United States is an enormous illegal underground business economy that involves the sexual exploitation of many persons. Due to the large nature of the sex trafficking business and the many different types of sex trafficking, it is helpful for social workers, government agencies, and activists to understand the intricacies of the various types of sex trafficking. This research focused on determining the human resources business structures behind pimp businesses that relied on mental coercion of the victim. The data source used, Pimpfeet.com—an online pimp authored blog—provided data from actual pimps on their business practices that were analyzed to determine trends in recruitment and retention. These trends were compared to human resource management theories from business literature to determine to what extent, or if at all, a pimp’s business recruited and retained workers in a way that was similar to how a legal business would, according to human resources strategies. The data extracted from Pimpfeet.com and used in this study consisted of 69 pimp quotes that were put into three recruitment categories and five retention categories based on human resource management literature in order to see which categories were used for recruitment and retention by pimps. This study found that pimp recruitment and retention followed, to some extent, the same models described in the human resource management literature, with slight modifications. This study showed that job embeddedness theory (Holtom, Mitchel and Lee, 2009) was able to explain much of why sex trafficking victims are retained so well by pimps since they are so embedded in the prostitution lifestyle. These findings show the different business techniques that pimps use for recruitment and retention of sex workers and are useful for understanding how a social worker, government entity or an activist can combat these forces to help remove victims from a pimp’s control, or keep victims from getting recruited in the first place. Further areas of research related to this topic were suggested.

The Paradise Valley Family Resource Center (PVFRC) is a not for profit, community based organization funded by First Things First and a part of the Paradise Valley Unified School District (PVUSD) in Phoenix, Arizona. The mission of this organization is to connect and strengthen families with children from birth to five years old in the Phoenix valley. The PVFRC longed to be more cognizant of what the needs of the community they serve are, and how they, as an organization, can administer programs of value to the community. Hence, the PVFRC entered a partnership with the Community Action Research Experiences (CARE) program at Arizona State University to develop a research proposal to improve their effectiveness and efficiency at achieving their mission. The purpose of this research project was to identify and evaluate the needs of the families with children ages birth to five within the community, to improve upon existing programs and services or to implement new programs, and to discover more effective modes of awareness and advertisement to the community about the programs and services the PVFRC provides. The main research questions of the experiment included asking participants about what programs and services they need, wish, or want to exist at the PVFRC, what barriers or gaps they see or experience regarding attending the PVFRC, how did participants learn about the PVFRC, and what are the best ways to contact families in their community. The methods of the research included conducting focus group interviews with families who utilize the programs and services at the PVFRC and with early childhood professionals in the Paradise Valley Unified School District (PVUSD), which included social workers and preschool teachers. A total of 25 participants were interviewed (10 families, 6 social workers, and 9 preschool teachers) and responses from the interviews were coded by the researcher. The results of the research was that the PVFRC is meeting many needs and current families are satisfied, participants desire some changes to current programs and services, and the best modes of advertisement and awareness were "word of mouth" and the internet. It was recommended that in order to better achieve their mission, it is advised that the PVFRC make appropriate changes to programs and services as suggested by the participants, connect with mom's or parents groups in the community, collaborate with preschool teachers on the front line, and increase their online presence through the use of social media and their website.

This study investigates how the patient-provider relationship between lesbian, gay, and bisexual women and their healthcare providers influences their access to, utilization of, and experiences within healthcare environments. Nineteen participants, ages 18 to 34, were recruited using convenience and snowball sampling. Interviews were conducted inquiring about their health history and their experiences within the healthcare system in the context of their sexual orientation. The data collected from these interviews was used to create an analysis of the healthcare experiences of those who identify as queer. Although the original intention of the project was to chronicle the experiences of LGB women specifically, there were four non-binary gender respondents who contributed interviews. In an effort to not privilege any orientation over another, the respondents were collectively referred to as queer, given the inclusive and an encompassing nature of the term. The general conclusion of this study is that respondents most often experienced heterosexism rather than outright homophobia when accessing healthcare. If heterosexism was present within the healthcare setting, it made respondents feel uncomfortable with their providers and less likely to inform them of their sexuality even if it was medically relevant to their health outcomes. Gender, race, and,socioeconomic differences also had an effect on the patient-provider relationship. Non-binary respondents acknowledged the need for inclusion of more gender options outside of male or female on the reporting forms often seen in medical offices. By doing so, medical professionals are acknowledging their awareness and knowledge of people outside of the binary gender system, thus improving the experience of these patients. While race and socioeconomic status were less relevant to the context of this study, it was found that these factors have an affect on the patient-provider relationship. There are many suggestions for providers to improve the experiences of queer patients within the healthcare setting. This includes nonverbal indications of acknowledgement and acceptance, such as signs in the office that indicate it to be a queer friendly space. This will help in eliminating the fear and miscommunication that can often happen when a queer patient sees a practitioner for the first time. In addition, better education on medically relevant topics to queer patients, is necessary in order to eliminate disparities in health outcomes. This is particularly evident in trans health, where specialized education is necessary in order to decrease poor health outcomes in trans patients. Future directions of this study necessitate a closer look on how race and socioeconomic status have an effect on a queer patient's relationship with their provider.

The Community Action Research Experiences (CARE) Program collaborated with a local non-profit organization called Arizona Facts of Life to design a program evaluation for their Youth Leadership Development Training Program, FACTS Curriculum. The purpose of this study was to identify targeted program outcomes, design an assessment to address these outcomes, and recommend possible evaluation designs. Arizona Facts of Life will implement the assessment using one of the recommended evaluation designs, and use the results to measure their Youth Leadership Development Training Program's outcomes and demonstrate efficacy.

Arizona and Florida are unique venues are they are the only two locations in the world to host the preseason leagues known as Spring Training for all thirty Major League Baseball teams. With fan bases willing to travel and spend disposable income to follow their favorite teams and/or escape the cold spells of their home state, the sports and tourism industries in Arizona and Florida have been able to captivate a status as top spring destinations. This study takes a focus on the economic impact that Spring Training in March has on the state of Arizona; specifically the Phoenix Metropolitan area. Consumer research is presented and a SWOT analysis is generated to further assess the condition of the Cactus League and Arizona as a host state. An economic impact study driven by the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats (SWOT) analysis method is the primary focuses of research due to the sum and quality of usable data that can be organized using the SWOT structure. The scope of this research aims to support the argument that Spring Training impacts the host city in which it resides in. In conjunction with the SWOT analysis, third parties will be able to get a sense of the overall effectiveness and impact of Cactus League Spring Training in the Valley of the Sun. Integration of findings from a Tampa Bay sight visit will also be assessed to determine the health of the competition. This study will take an interdisciplinary approach as it views the topics at hand from the lenses of the consumer, baseball professional, and investor.

There is a widespread inequality in health care access and insured rates suffered by the Latino, Spanish-speaking population in Arizona, resulting in poor health measures and economic burden. The passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010 provided mechanisms to alleviate this disparity, however, many Latino communities lack accessible information and means to gain access to health insurance enrollment. Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC) is a community based organizing that provides many services to low-income communities across Arizona, one of which is the CPLC Insurance Program. In collaboration with the Community Action Research Experiences (CARE) at Arizona State University, the program was studied to help address the need of a LOGIC model and evaluation plan to determine its effectiveness. Interviews with three executives within CPLC were conducted in conjunction with a literature review to determine the inputs, strategies, outputs, and outcomes of the LOGIC model that drive CPLC Insurance's mission. Evaluation measures were then created to provide the necessary quantitative data that can best show to what degree the program is achieving its goals. Specifically, the results indicated the key outcomes that drive the LOGIC model, and an evaluation plan designed to provide indicators of these outcomes was produced. The implications of this study are that the suggested data collection can verify how effectively the program's actions are creating positive change, as well as show where further improvements may be necessary to maximize effectiveness.

Community Action Research Experiences (CARE) partnered with Mission of Mercy, a faith-based nonprofit organization that provides free medical care services to uninsured and underinsured individuals throughout the Phoenix valley. A needs assessment was conducted on Mission of Mercy's patient population and data collected over a two month long period, in which 91 completed surveys were collected. Participants were between the ages of 18 to over 65 and were largely Hispanic/Latino, followed by White/Anglo and Black/African American. The results indicate that there is need for increased patient education which could be satisfied by implement an incentive program. A need for a program specific to high blood pressure was also found. Participants were interested in dental services being offered, a service that is currently not offered through the Arizona chapter of Mission of Mercy. The study also showed that respondents were satisfied with the level of care received at Mission of Mercy.

Teen dating violence is a significant problem in the U.S., with approximately 1 out of 3 teens experiencing some form of dating violence. BLOOM is a not-for-profit organization created by Donna Bartos. BLOOM's educators enter high schools in Arizona and present their educational program on dating abuse prevention. BLOOM's primary goal is to educate teens on how to prevent teen dating violence and empower them with the skills leading to healthy relationships. After participants complete their educational program, a feedback card is filled out with an open-response section. This project focused on the open response section to analyze feedback cards through a process of code development, coding, and tallying. Information provided by this project could assist BLOOM in re-evaluating their curriculum, appealing to future investors, and growing their program to reach more students. With a coding system in place, BLOOM will also be able to better assess the impact they have on the participants of their program.

Adverse Childhood Events (ACEs) are defined as experiences during childhood that caused extensive stress and can include events such as abuse, disasters, violence, or neglect. These ACEs are shown to have great effects on the psychological as well as physiological well-being of the individual into adulthood, and have been linked to disorders such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cancer, obesity, alcoholism, hallucinations, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). For this reason, ACEs have been considered "the single greatest unaddressed public health threat facing our nation today" (Kalmakis & Chandler, 2015). Nurses are in a unique place in caring for individuals in which they can screen patients for adverse childhood experiences and trauma and teach strength-based resilience in order to interrupt this disease progression. As a part of our thesis, we created an educational module to inform nursing students of this study.

The purpose of this research project is to develop a recommendation for Company X on the strategies it should use to enter a new market. This was done through the compilation and interpretation of data from the company and the construction of a financial model capable of analyzing our different proposed strategies. Company X is a leading producer of silicon chips which seeks to remain one of the leading forces in new technologies. Currently Company X wants to assess the value and risks associated with introducing a new packaging technology (FO-WLP) into their products either by developing the technology in-house or outsourcing production. The first portion of the research consisted mostly of gathering the necessary business acumen to be able to to fully understand our research findings. Market research was conducted to discover what competitors exist and what inputs should be included for the model with help from employees at Company X. The research then proceeded with the identification of three possible strategies and construction of financial models to analyze these options. Using the results from our analysis we were able to develop our recommendation for Company X and lay out the next steps which the Company needs to take before investing in the new technology.