Digital Commons Network^™

Evaluating The School Performance Of Elementary And Middle School Children Of Incarcerated Parents., Melissa F. Neal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Children of incarcerated parents are at significantly increased risk of negative long-term outcomes. With about 1% of the adult population incarcerated, the United States has millions of children at risk for these negative outcomes. Research on this population is increasing; however, it is still unclear whether children of incarcerated parents are at an increased risk for poor school performance as a specific result of parental incarceration above that associated with their social and economic status. Because parental incarceration may result in a variety of outcomes that can negatively impact school performance including school mobility, prolonged exposure to stress, and insufficient …

Psychometrics Of The Missouri Student Survey: Examining Validity, Reliability And Consent, Susan Marie Depue

Dissertations

Risk and protective factors for adolescent drug and alcohol abuse have gained prominence in the prevention field as a framework for prevention. Communities that Care® is the original survey that collected data on risk and protective factors in the adolescent community. The Missouri Student Survey is based upon the Communities that Care® survey and is administered to students across the state of Missouri every two years. This study examines the reliability and validity of the Missouri Student Survey in a sample of 126,923 students from across the state of Missouri. In addition, this study also considers the question of active …

Evaluating Systemic Change In The Virginia Department Of Corrections: Creating Agents Of Change, Philip Andrew Mayles

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

The Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC) is attempting to change the practice of working with offenders placed on probation and parole to effect a reduction in the rate of recidivism. The VADOC’s proposal is to get the probation and parole officers to become “change agents” in motivating the offender toward pro-social behavior using evidence-based practices and Motivational Interviewing (MI). The purpose of this paper is to describe the ways in which organizations attempt change and explores the reasons for the resistance displayed by the probation and parole officers. The author argues that the VADOC should employ a second-order change and …

Juveniles Who Commit Sex Offenses Against Minors., David Finkelhor, Richard Ormrod, Mark Chaffin

Crimes Against Children Research Center

Presents population-based epidemiological information about the characteristics of juvenile offenders who commit sex offenses against minors. The authors analyzed data from the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) and provided topical statistics highlighting the fact that juveniles account for more than one-third (35.6 percent) of this type of offender. Findings may support the development of research-based interventions and policies to reduce sexual assault and child molestation as perpetrated by juvenile offenders.

Law Enforcement Responses To Online Child Sexual Exploitation Crimes: The National Juvenile Online Victimization Study, 2000 & 2006., Janis Wolak, David Finkelhor, Kimberly J. Mitchell

Crimes Against Children Research Center

No abstract provided.

Coping Methods And Meaning Making Of Liberian Refugees In The Buduburam Refugee Camp Of Ghana, Abena Gyamfuah Sarfo-Mensah

Honors Scholar Theses

The mental health of war-impacted individuals has been an issue of growing concern to many researchers and practitioners internationally (Miller, Kulkarni, & Kushner, 2006). According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (2006a), Africans are disproportionately impacted by conflict-related displacement. To date, however, much of the research on the mental health of refugees has been based mostly on Western views of health and trauma. The current study is a mixed-methods investigation of stressors, coping strategies, and meaning making of Liberian refugees in the Buduburam Refugee Camp of Ghana. Results from the Brief COPE, focus groups, and semi-structured ethnographic interviews …

Validating The Attitudes Toward Sex Offenders Scale, Charmeka. Whitehead

Dissertations

This study investigated the reliability and validity of the Attitudes Toward Sex Offenders Scale (ATS) measurement by assessing attitudes of counselors in training towards juvenile sex offenders. The specific aims of this study were to determine (a) internal consistency of the ATS, (b) construct validity of the ATS based on exploratory factor analysis, and (c) the degree to which this instrument has convergent and discriminate validity. The intellectual merit of this study was to provide appropriate scale validation of the ATS so that it might be used to assess attitudes of mental health professionals who work with juvenile sex offenders. …

Toward A Theory Of Procedural Justice For Juveniles, Tamar R. Birckhead

Tamar R Birckhead

Courts and legislatures have long been reluctant to make use of the data, findings, and recommendations generated by other disciplines when determining questions of legal procedure affecting juveniles, particularly when the research has been produced by social scientists. However, given the United States Supreme Court’s recent invocation of developmental psychology in Roper v. Simmons, which invalidated the juvenile death penalty, there is reason to believe that such resistance is waning. In 2005 the Simmons Court found, inter alia, that based on research on adolescent development, juveniles are not as culpable as adults and, therefore, cannot be classified among the “worst …

Juvenile Delinquency And Violence: Examining International Police And Societal Response, Gordon A. Crews, Angela West Crews

Criminal Justice Faculty Research

This presentation comparatively examines relationships in the United States, Eastern and Central Europe, Scandinavia, and parts of the Middle East among juvenile violence, "heavy metal" music, substance abuse, and participation in occult and "alternative" youth groups (e.g., Wicca, Satanism, vampirism, Goth). We trace the movement of certain groups, behaviors, and preferences and make a correlation between some of these movements and an increase in youth violence and substance abuse. The authors use results from surveys and participant observations in the U.S., Copenhagen, Germany, the Netherlands, & the Middle East (Egypt & Turkey) that indicate, however, that mere participation in these …

A Phenomenological Study Of Clinicians Treating Traumagenic Compulsions Resulting From Childhood Sexual Abuse, Albert Sarno

Faculty Dissertations

Various types of traumatic compulsive behaviors have been observed by practicing mental health clinicians and yet there is a lack of consensus among such clinicians for treating people in such a problematic state when there is also a history of childhood sexual abuse. Ten seasoned clinicians, each with over 15 years experience in treating patients with traumagenic compulsions and childhood sexual abuse were interviewed to explore their lived experience treating people with traumagenic compulsions due to childhood sexual abuse. A phenomenological design was used to asses the data collected in the study. The data were analyzed to determine the best …

12. Disclosure Of Child Sexual Abuse., Thomas D. Lyon, Elizabeth C. Ahern

Thomas D. Lyon

Why Do We Blame Victims Of Sexual Assault?, Meghna Nalinkumar Patel

Dissertations

Sexual assault is a formidable concern in American society with alarming rates of victimization among women and men. Based on the high prevalence of rape, some researchers have argued that America has a rape supportive culture (Burt, 1980; Wakelin & Long, 2003). The culture is particularly supported by the high incidence of victim blame that is commonly reported upon in research evaluating perceptions of rape victims. The purpose of the current study was to determine what types of variables are associated with victim blame and the theories which best explain why victim blame occurs. In particular, the current study evaluated …

Parent-Adolescent Discrepancies In Ratings Of Youth Victimization: Associations With Psychological Adjustment, Kimberly Goodman

Theses and Dissertations

Epidemiological research indicates that parents report lower levels of youths’ exposure to violence than youth self-report, and theory suggests that such discrepancies reflect parents’ lack of knowledge of youth victimization and impaired ability to help children cope with victimization. This study extends prior research examining the implications of parent-youth informant discrepancies on ratings of victimization. Latent class analysis (LCA) was employed to identify groups of dyads distinguished by patterns of parent and youth report of victimization, uncovering heterogeneity based on patterns of parent-youth ratings of victimization. Analyses examined how latent classes reflecting parent-youth agreement on victimization were related to adjustment …

Comparison Of The Trauma Symptom Checklist For Children, Ucla Ptsd Index, And Child Behavior Checklist In Children With A Trauma History, Melissa Verish Broome

Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to study a host of PTSD assessment-related problems in children with a trauma history (N = 110) who were seeking treatment at a community mental health clinic. Exploratory factor analyses using the trauma-related and non-trauma-related subscales on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; Achenbach 1991), UCLA PTSD Index (Pynoos 1998), and the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC; Briere 1996) were conducted. Results indicated that in children aged 7 to 11, but not in older children aged 12 to 17, the UCLA PTSD Index and the TSCC trauma-related scales formed a trauma factor. The CBCL …

Emotional Behavior In Subclinical Psychopathy, Kristen Lee Godenick

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The unique interpersonal qualities of individuals who fall on the so-called ‘psychopathic spectrum’ have been regularly documented since Cleckley’s observations (1941). The literature reflects the importance of understanding individuals who have high and low levels of psychopathic personality traits for research (Lilienfeld, 1998, Patrick, Edens, Poythress, Lilienfeld & Benning, 2006), clinical (Patrick, Hicks, Blonigen & Krueger, 2003) and risk assessment purposes (Skeem, Poythress, Edens, Lilienfeld & Cade, 2003) through bringing forth the position that psychopathic traits can fall on a continuum (Benning, Patrick, Salekin & Leistico, 2005). The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between psychopathic personality …

The Formation Of "Outsider" Through Labeling And Sentence Lengths For Immigrants Of Hispanic Descent., Jeremy Jason Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if individuals who supported denying citizenship to children of foreign parentage and making English the sole language spoken in the United States held the opinion that a sentence length over 15 years was appropriate for non-U.S. individuals. Other purposes were to determine if individuals with high religiosity or who carried a lethal weapon also held the opinion that a sentence length over 15 years was appropriate for non-U.S. individuals.

Pearson's Chi-Square was used to determine if a significant relationship existed between the independent variables and the dependent variable. The data indicated that …

The Emergence Of An Own-Gender Bias Within A Change Blindness And Eyewitness Paradigm, Alison E. Finstad

Theses and Dissertations

Studies exploring the change blindness phenomenon have consistently shown that individuals are surprisingly poor at detecting changes to visual scenes and identities in real-world interactions. The area of eyewitness identification has revealed a similar type of visual processing error; specifically, the tendency for eyewitnesses to incorrectly identify a perpetrator. Recently, researchers have attempted to merge these two areas, creating a combined change blindness/eyewitness paradigm, allowing for the study of variables of similar interest within the two areas. Using this type of combined paradigm, the present study explored the possibility of an own-gender bias within a change blindness/eyewitness experience. Participants viewed …

Paranoid Personality Has A Dimensional Latent Structure: Taxometric Analyses Of Community And Clinical Samples, John F. Edens, David K. Marcus, Leslie C. Morey

Faculty Publications

Although paranoid personality is one of the most commonly diagnosed personality disorders and is associated with numerous negative life consequences, relatively little is known about the structural properties of this condition. This study examines whether paranoid personality traits represent a latent dimension or a discrete class (i.e., taxon). In Study 1, the authors conducted taxometric analyses of paranoid personality disorder criteria in a sample of 731 patients participating in the Collaborative Longitudinal Study of Personality Disorders project (Gunderson et al., 2000) who had been administered a semistructured diagnostic interview for personality disorders according to criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical …

Perceptions Of Weight Reduction Surgery: The Role Of Stigma And The Attribution Of Responsibility, Jessica Marie Behm

Theses and Dissertations

The amount of weight reduction surgeries performed in the United States has increased considerably within the last twenty years. Many people choose to undergo the procedure with the hopes of shedding the negative stigma of being obese and improving their life. The purpose of this study was to investigate how society views individuals who have elected to undergo weight reduction surgery. A questionnaire assessing the influence of three variables (Responsibility, Acceptability, and Stigma) on the perception of weight reduction surgery was developed and administered to 503 Midwestern college students. The respondents were presented with one of two vignettes depicting a …

Receiver Operating Characteristic (Roc) Curve Analysis Of Affinity Profiles, Benjamin C. Caswell

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis tests the relative efficiency of Fischer's approach of Chi-square on Affinity viewing time profiles to the more commonly used deviance differential approach. Through his use of a Chi-square approach, Fischer has attempted to make a norm-referenced, comparison of ipsative scores generated using Affinity. His goal has been to create an ethically acceptable approach to identifying sexual interest without losing the efficiency generated through the use of the commonly used deviance differential. A Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve is used to generate the efficiency of each approach and provide results for comparison. These results lead to a discussion of …

Annotated Bibliography: Parental Incarceration, Kolina J. Delgado

Psychology Student Publications

This annotated bibliography focuses on psychology sources dealing with parental incarceration.

Violence And Women's Mental Health: The Pain Unequalled, Part One, Carol E. Jordan

Office for Policy Studies on Violence Against Women Publications

No abstract provided.

Long-Term Effects Of Parents' Education On Children's Educational And Occupational Success Mediation By Family Interactions, Child Aggression, And Teenage Aspirations, Eric F. Dubow, Paul Boxer, L. Rowell Husemann

Psychology Faculty Publications

We examine the prediction of individuals' educational and occupational success at age 48 from contextual and personal variables assessed during their middle childhood and late adolescence. We focus particularly on the predictive role of the parents' educational level during middle childhood, controlling for other indices of socioeconomic status and children's IQ, and the mediating roles of negative family interactions, childhood behavior, and late adolescent aspirations. Data come from the Columbia County Longitudinal Study, which began in 1960 when all 856 third graders in a semirural county in New York State were interviewed along with their parents; participants were reinterviewed at …

Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument Long-Term Outcomes And Scale Stability, Elise Christina Simonds Bisbee

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument-2 (MAYSI-2; Grisso & Barnum, 2006) was developed in 1998 to offer an efficient measure for identifying adolescents within the juvenile justice system in need of further psychiatric evaluation, treatment, or specialized care. Since the instrument's publication, several studies have evaluated the psychometric properties and clinical utility of the MAYSI-2. The current study adds to the literature examining the reliability and validity of this measure. Specifically, the current study sought to evaluate the long-term characteristics and predictive utility of the MAYSI-2 scale scores. This study utilized a sample of 8,929 boys (n = 6.780) and …

Juveniles’ Knowledge Of The Court Process: Results From Instruction From An Electronic Source, Christine Driver, Eve M. Brank

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Our study first determined what juveniles know about the juvenile court process. Second, it evaluated a DVD designed to be a systematic and simple way to improve this knowledge. A pre- and post-test design was used with two pilot samples and two samples from the population of interest. A sample from a juvenile detention center (n = 118) was the focus of this study. Initial knowledge of the court process was quite low for the detention sample (pretest M = 64.0%, SD = 14.2%). All samples experienced a significant improvement of knowledge after watching the DVD. Youth in the …

A Test Of Direct And Partially Mediated Relationships Between Leader Member Exchange, Job Embeddedness, Turnover Intentions, And Job Search Behaviors In A Southern Police Department, Mark D. Bowman

School of Public Service Theses & Dissertations

Job embeddedness has been found to predict turnover intentions, job search behaviors and turnover, and job embeddedness researchers assert, but have not tested, that job embeddedness is a mediator of other organizationally significant factors relative to organizational outcomes. A relationship not previously explored is the role of a supervisor in job embeddedness, which was operationalized in this study as leader-member exchange. A single panel survey was conducted in a police department in the southern United States with 276 current members holding the rank of police officer. Usable surveys were completed by 128 of those police officers, which is a response …

Relationship Predictors Of Unwanted Pursuit, Farrahdya Tassy

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The present study investigated relationship variables related to unwanted pursuit post dissolution of a romantic relationship. Online surveys were administered to 277 undergraduate and graduate students from a large southeastern university. Participants completed questionnaires that assessed levels of idealization, satisfaction, perceptions of alternatives to the relationship, investment size, commitment, and unwanted pursuit. These variables are often essential in romantic involvements, and contribute greatly to the continuation of a relationship. Additional measures of attachment, self-esteem, neuroticism, and jealousy were included to control for their potential effect on pursuit. The sample consisted of individuals who engaged in the pursuit of a former …

I Can Explain! Understanding Perceptions Of Eyewitnesses As A Function Of Type Of Explanation And Inconsistent Confidence Statements, Melissa Paiva

Psychology Theses

In the current study, 126 undergraduate students read a case summary describing an armed robbery of a convenience store, involving one eyewitness, and then viewed one of five brief videotapes of an eyewitness identification procedure. Confidence ratings were manipulated as 80% v. 100%: Type of explanation offered for changes in confidence consisted of social, memory-based or none. Results indicated increased perceptions of eyewitnesses were associated with confidence consistency, rather than type of explanation. Perhaps providing any explanation for changes in confidence drew attention to the inconsistency and magnified its effect on perceptions. Further, when the eyewitness provided one estimate of …

The Psychosocial Effects Of Rape On Heterosexual And Homosexual Men, Alison Heather Litvack

Theses and Dissertations

The present study evaluated the psychosocial effects of rape on heterosexual and homosexual men. It was hypothesized that 1) non-closeted homosexual men would have less symptomology and more resilience than closeted homosexual men and heterosexual men; 2) the more protective factors a man had, the less symptomology he would display and the more likely he would exhibit posttraumatic growth; 3) there would be an interaction between sexual orientation of the perpetrator and sexual orientation of the victim on symptomology. One-way ANOVAs revealed that homosexual men and bisexual men reported significantly less PTSD symptomology than heterosexual men. Further, homosexual men endorsed …

Culture Matters: Forensic Issues For Australian Indigenous Peoples, Robyn Lincoln

Robyn Lincoln

Extract:

There has clearly been an extensive amount of scientific focus on Indigenous peoples in the 200 plus years since colonisation. There were many early scientific expeditions, work done by linguists and anthropologists, followed by the involvement of legal practitioners in land rights claims or those working in the health and mental health fields. More recently too, criminological attention has been paid to the interactions of Indigenous Australians and the processes of the criminal justice system largely because of the disproportionate number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples being dealt with by justice agencies. And, of course, in addition …