Graduation Semester and Year

2011

Language

English

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Social Work

Department

Social Work

First Advisor

Vijayan K Pillai

Abstract

God created all humans equal and we all deserve the opportunity to have our basic needs met. This thesis discusses the fundamentals of sustainable development and explains the importance of achieving these measures in order to keep us humans safe, healthy, and prosperous and our Earth functioning properly. The purpose of this paper is to stimulate conversation and action about the state of our planet and its inhabitants; regarding our environmental, social, and economic wellbeing. This work particularly focuses on countries where people are suffering, and fighting to solve extreme poverty, amidst their wealth of blessings. It confers special attention to the African continent because of the evident gross poverty disparities and economic marginalization faced by her people. This study explores non-traditional sustainability indicators to determine their influence and contribution to environmental health. Paying close attention to the effects of colonialism, and cultural, economic, and social development factors, this paper analyzes the effects of population and consumption on environmental performance and ultimately sustainable development. After excluding missing data, the methodology utilizes 75 of 98 World Bank identified `developing countries' for the final results. The findings of this basic research indicate that regarding countries in the `third world', while energy consumption has a significantly negative effect on environmental performance, population growth does not. This thesis further examines several avenues of implementing sustainable development, and provides sound recommendations and guidance to actualizing this concept. Future research, accountability, and social work implications are also detailed.

Disciplines

Social and Behavioral Sciences | Social Work

License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Comments

Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington

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