Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Conversion Of The Coldwater Regional Mental Health Center: The Impact On Employees, Connie Dunham Dykman

Dissertations

The objective of this study was to determine what effects the conversion of the Coldwater Regional Mental Health Center from a facility serving developmentally disabled residents to one serving mentally ill residents had on the lives of its employees.

Deinstitutionalization has been taking place nationwide at the same time prisons have been expanding. In Coldwater, Michigan, buildings that were left empty as a result of deinstitutionalizing mentally retarded individuals were taken over by the Department of Corrections to be used as prisons. This action inspired advocates for retarded citizens to call for the closure of the Coldwater Regional Center. Instead …

Corporate Resistance To Early Return To Work Policy, Roger J. Shoemaker

Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to discover the extent and patterns of resistance the concept of an early return to work policy is encountering in private corporations. Early return to work policies encourage and enable injured/disabled employees to return to duty before being fully recuperated. The degree of resistance was examined through variables which are component elements of the macro themes of corporate culture and corporate structure theory. Corporate culture embodies a set of beliefs and values collectively held and socialized by a corporation. Specific elements of corporate culture which were examined are corporate goals (to increase market share, …

The Development And Use Of A Locus Of Control Board Game For 7 Through 11 Year Old Children, Nancy J. Kaniuga

Dissertations

In this study, a children's board game, The Clubhouse Game, was developed, described and evaluated. Created by the author, The Clubhouse Game addresses locus of control and was designed for use in psychotherapy with 7 through 11 year old children. A review of selected writings of Piaget, Erikson and Winnicott yielded four concepts which were incorporated into the game. The Clubhouse Game was evaluated in terms of its effectiveness in modifying belief in locus of control in children who played the game, and its ability to serve as a stimulus or point of reference for discussions of situations which contain …

Behavioral Treatment Of Headaches, Walid Salim Salah-Kailane

Dissertations

Headaches are common and frequent forms of pain, and are classified on the basis of inferred physiological factors (Ad Hoc Committee on the Classification of Headache, 1962).

Behavioral treatment of headaches was the subject of this study which focused on improving our understanding of the psychophysiological mechanisms of head pain. It is believed that understanding the physiological and psychological mechanisms of head pain assist in designing treatment using effective behavioral and cognitive methods (Olton & Noonberg, 1980).

Twenty-four headache patients diagnosed as muscle contraction (tension), or migraine headache sufferers were chosen as subjects. The length of the study was one …

Effects Of The Great Depression On Private Higher Education: Impact On Private College And University Planning, J. Michael Hostetler

Dissertations

Private higher education has suffered a loss of dominance in enrollment over the last four decades. Increases in tuition escalated making private higher education distinctly more expensive than options in the public sector. A sharp decline in the birth rate during the 1970s indicates there will be fewer high school graduates for private higher education to recruit. Some private colleges have already been forced to close, while others appear threatened by enrollment decline in the 1990s and beyond.

The Great Depression of the 1930s was a challenging period for the country and the academic community. To discover how private institutions …

The Perceptions Of Family Environment Between Black Adolescent Users And Nonusers Of Alcohol Or Drugs, Jesse Aaron Brinson Jr.

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine Black American adolescents' substance use (alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, cocaine) and their perceptions of their family environments. Sixty-two male and female subjects between the age of 13-21, from a large northeast medical facility, who reported exposure to alcohol or drug use, were asked to complete Moos' (1986) Family Environment Scale (FES). The subjects were divided into users and nonusers. Users were described as those having used alcohol or drugs at least three or more times per week within the previous month. Nonusers were described as those not having used alcohol or drugs less …

Assessment Inequities Of Residential Properties In Nine Michigan Townships, Sivaswami Amarnath

Dissertations

Horizontal equity in property tax administration has been neglected by researchers in favor of research on incidence of the property tax. The present study, conducted within nine townships in Allegan, Barry, and Grand Traverse Counties in Michigan, investigated differences of practices in assessing residential properties. Three hypotheses test differences in ratio of assessed value to sale price for properties owned by nonresidents and residents, properties with water frontage and without water frontage, and properties of higher value and those of lower value. Both parametric and nonparametric statistics were utilized to test the research hypotheses.

The study findings were: (1) Properties …

The Psychological Typologies And Learning Styles Of Security Managers In A Large Industrial Organization, Michael John Witkowski

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the psychological typologies and learning styles of a population of security managers. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the Learning Style Inventory 1985 (LSI 1985) were used with a population of 125 security managers. The return rate was 73% (N = 91).

Four research questions were investigated concerning: (a) psychological types of the population of security managers as measured by the MBTI, (b) the learning styles of the population as reported on the LSI 1985 and MBTI, (c) how the security management population compared with related occupations (e.g., police managers) after MBTI …

The Relationship Between Selected Work Behaviors And Closed Head Injury, Douglas A. Walter

Dissertations

Each year approximately 30,000 to 50,000 individuals suffer a traumatic brain injury (TBI) serious enough to limit their ability to return to their pre-injury life style. A large portion of these individuals are men in their early adult years who are primary wage earners and, additionally, are in the process of establishing primary career tracks. The consequences of the injury, although not negatively impacting on their life expectancy, pose barriers to obtaining and maintaining employment. A persistent problem for rehabilitation specialists is predicting job performance following a TBI. Existing instruments were not available to assess behavioral changes resulting from the …

The Relationship Between Therapist Personality And Theoretical Orientation, David J. Wagner

Dissertations

This research project sought to examine the relationship between a therapist's personality and theoretical orientation. It was hypothesized that therapists with similar personalities would possess similar theoretical orientations.

Forty male and 22 female therapists from a variety of clinical settings participated in the study by volunteering to answer a one-page questionnaire and take the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), Form G. In addition to demographic data, the questionnaire asked the therapist to select one of six theoretical orientations which they felt best described them. Each orientation was briefly described and defined. The six orientations were: (1) psychodynamic, (2) behavioral, (3) cognitive, …

A Study Of Personality Style And Intergenerational Attitudes On Parenting, David Lee Russell

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the interrelationships of health in one's family-of-origin, one's parents' attitudes about parenting, personality style, personal effects of parental dysfunction and one's own parenting attitudes.

Subjects (N = 163) were adults from three different educational levels: adult education, community college and graduate school. Four different instruments were used in the collection of data: the Family-Of-Origin Scale, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (AV), a semantic differential on parenting and a second semantic differential on one's parents' parenting. Both parents and non-parents participated in the study. One way analysis of variance and Pearson correlation analysis were …

The Integration Of Metabolic Measurement And The Behavioral Management Of Nutrition And Exercise For Treating Obesity, Cheryl Rae Maphies

Dissertations

Four female subjects participated in an eight-week, behavioral weight control treatment program that emphasized changing the behavior of food choice and aerobic exercise. This study also tested the hypothesis that by utilizing measurements of an individual's resting metabolic rate to determine caloric level, an individual could lose weight without a disproportional drop in metabolic rate. During the initial eight weeks, subjects' resting metabolic rates were determined through the measure of oxygen consumption. Caloric intakes were based on a reduction of 500-1000 calories per day from the estimated number of calories expended daily. Using a multiple-baseline design, the effects of diet …

Religious Orientation, Jungian Personality Type, And Stage Of Ego Development Of The Machiavellian Personality, Jerome E. Elson

Dissertations

This study explored the religious orientation, Jungian personality type, and stage of ego development of the Machiavellian personality. Eighty-six freshman students, from a 4-year college with an emphasis on business subjects, completed four questionnaires. These questionnaires were: (1) the Mach V (a measure of the Machiavellian personality), (2) the Religious Orientation Scale (a survey of religious orientation), (3) the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (an appraisal of Jungian personality type), and (4) the Sentence Completion Test (an assessment of ego development).

Subjects whose Mach V scores were in the top fourth of the population were called "High Machs" (and were referred to …

An Evaluation Of An Organizationally-Focused School-Based Delinquency Reduction Program: The Milwood Project, H. Preston Elrod

Dissertations

An extensive body of research exists which links various aspects of schooling to delinquency. Despite a small body of research suggesting that school-based delinquency reduction programs which employ democratic problem solving to alter the social organizational climates of schools are viable, few evaluations of such programs exist. The object of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness of a three year school-based delinquency reduction project designed to alter the social organizational structure of a public junior high school.

This research describes the development, implementation and evaluation of the project which was guided by three interrelated theoretical perspectives: (1) the role …

Gender Differences And Training Effects On Empathy, Carol S. Jones

Dissertations

The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between the gender of aspiring therapists and empathy as well as the relationship between training and empathy. Four bodies of literature were reviewed: (1) feminine psychological development with a particular focus on how it differs from masculine development, (2) the relationship between empathy and gender, (3) the role of empathy in psychotherapy, and (4) the relationship between training and empathy.

An empirical study was conducted to test the proposed hypotheses that (a) there is a relationship between a student's gender and his or her self-report of empathy on cognitive and …

The Predictive Validity Of The Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory To Assess Borderline Conditions In Adolescents, Juan Mario Herakovic

Dissertations

This study examined the predictive validity of the Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory (MAPI) (Millon, Green & Meagher, 1982) to evaluate Borderline Personality Disorder in adolescents. The hypothesis is that the MAPI tends to overdiagnose Borderline Personality Disorders. The origin of the term is placed first within the framework of psychoanalysis and its evolution through other theoretical constructs is then discussed. The concept of Borderline is surrounded by imprecise terminology which contributes to the confusion of a clinical diagnosis. While there is a movement in mental health to provide a more precise and behaviorally oriented description of this disorder, current explanations …

The Effectiveness Of Three Study Aids As Measured By Immediate Examinations And Delayed Examinations, Yousef Abdulwahab Abuhmaidan

Dissertations

Two experiments were performed to examine the effectiveness of three study aids: (1) information maps, (2) behavioral objectives, and (3) the students' own strategies in reorganizing written material. A training workshop was given prior to the first experiment to teach the students appropriate skills to use to read research articles (e.g., generating and answering questions, filling out and generating information maps). Eighteen undergraduate students participated in the study. In the first experiment, students were randomly assigned to three groups. The researcher provided students with a research article every week for three weeks, together with either an information map, a set …

Community College Student Success: The Relationship Of Basic Skills, Study Habits, Age, And Gender To Academic Achievement, Margaret Lynn Hills Wonnacott

Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to determine if a relationship existed between reading ability, writing ability, math ability, study skills, age and gender and first semester grade point average of Glen Oaks Community College students. A secondary purpose was to determine if these variables acting together could predict student academic success.

The subjects were 374 full and part time students matriculating at Glen Oaks for the fall semester, 1988. The ASSET instrument was used to measure basic skills and study skills. It was administered at orientation sessions in August and September prior to enrollment. Pearson product moment correlation coefficients …

Design Of A Program Of Instruction To Teach State Notation, Esther Hannah Shafer

Dissertations

The process of programming instruction involves a series of steps which include determining the need for programming instruction on a particular topic, choosing the appropriate programming method, and a series of approximations toward the final program through testing and revision. State notation (Michael, 1986), a notation system which is used to visually represent procedures such as those used in an operant laboratory setting, was deemed an appropriate topic for programmed instruction since the complex decisions that learners must make when diagramming are difficult to teach using conventional methods. Mathetics (Gilbert, 1962) was chosen as an appropriate programming method for state …

The Effectiveness Of Relaxation-Visualization Training On The Natural Killer (Nk) Cells Of Breast Cancer Patients, Morry Edwards

Dissertations

A large number of studies have found that stress qualitatively and quantitatively reduces a variety of immune components. Several recent studies have examined relaxation skills and their ability to increase immune measures. The primary hypothesis of this project was that relaxation-visualization training (RVT) would enhance Natural Killer (NK) Cell Activity. Two other major hypotheses were generated: (a) RVT would produce beneficial psychological effects and, (b) increased psychopathology would be inversely correlated with NK levels. Six volunteer breast cancer patients who were at least 3 months post treatment were taught a passive form of relaxation that included visualizing an increase in …

Sleep Disorders And The Elderly: The Effect Of Progressive Relaxation Training Versus Sedative-Hypnotic Treatment On Insomnia, Klaus J. Sauerbrey

Dissertations

Progressive relaxation training (PRT) and sedative-hypnotics (S-H) were compared as a treatment for insomnia in the elderly. This study used the following definition of insomnia: Sleeping less than six hours a night, a sleep onset latency (SOL) more than 30 minutes, and waking up one or more times a night. Individuals also had to exhibit these symptoms longer than six months and these complaints had to be present at least 50 percent of the time. This study was conducted with seniors ($N$ = 30) over a period of three weeks with the first week being baseline.

The purpose of this …

Personality Characteristics And Personality Styles Of Adult Children Of Alcoholics As Compared With Adult Children Of Nonalcoholics, George David Thomson

Dissertations

The focus of this study was to explore the impact of parental alcoholism on personalities of college students who identify themselves as adult children of alcoholics. There were two main areas of research. One explored the degree of difference between adult children of alcoholics and adult children of nonalcoholics on personality characteristics identified by the literature to be dominant traits of adult children of alcoholics. These traits were: (a) dominance, (b) serious-mindness, (c) social recognition, (d) abasement, (e) autonomy, and (f) defendence. The second explored the possibility that adult children of alcoholics are prone to certain personality styles. These personality …

Choice In The Classroom: Human Impulsivity And Self-Control, John W. Esch

Dissertations

Eight high school students' choice behavior was studied in an applied educational setting. Students were divided into two groups based on choice patterns for immediate grade points and academic on-task performance. Students were classified as dependent-impulsive when they chose immediate points and their on-task performance was good. Students were classified as avoidance-impulsive when they chose delayed points (avoidance) and their on-task performance was poor. Dependent-impulsive choice patterns were considered maladaptive because constant information on good performance promotes dependence on support from others. Avoidance-impulsive choice patterns were considered maladaptive because they allowed students to avoid immediate aversive information on performance that …

The Effectiveness Of Correspondence Training In Controlling Aggressive Behavior Between Children In Play Settings, Naiel Albkower

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of say/do correspondence training in controlling aggressive behavior between children in play settings. Two experiments assessed the effects of children's verbal statements, to play in a friendly manner with others, on the incidence of aggressive behavior during actual play. The results of the first experiment indicated that, in most instances, the number of aggressive incidents decreased as a result of the correspondence training in all subjects except one where the effects of treatment are not clear.

In the second experiment, the incidents of aggressive behavior decreased during the intervention to …

The Impact Of Self-Esteem And Locus Of Control On Expectancy Theory Predictions Of Work Effort, Michael Kuan Tsai

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Medicalization Of Senile Dementia: From "Normality" To “Pathology”, Rosamond Robbert

Dissertations

Once considered an uncommon presenile condition, Alzheimer's disease is today claimed to be one of the major causes of death in older persons. This study examines the process of changing definitions that led to this reconstruction. The method employs both unstructured non-quantitative and structured quantitative content analysis. The data base includes journal articles, media reports, government documents, professional manuals and conference proceedings. Alzheimer's disease is treated as a putative condition and all statements concerning the condition are treated as claims. Focusing specifically on the years 1970 to 1985, we show that cognitive impairment in older persons, once claimed to be …

The Concept Of Foreseeability As It Relates To Personal Injury Litigation In College And University Residence Halls, F. Bruce Johnston Jr.

Dissertations

The study of the concept of foreseeability as it relates to personal injury litigation for assaults in college and university residence halls reveals three significant implications for higher education. Duarte v. State of California (1978), Mullins v. Pine Manor College (1983), and Miller v. State of New York (1984) are three important cases reviewed. Each case is analyzed using foreseeability, the student/institutional relationship, the various duties owed to the student, the breach of the duty, the presence of negligence, and the imposition of liability.

The implication involves the student/institutional relationship. This implication demonstrates the incongruity of the legal duty to …

A Study Of Personality Factors And Music Preference, Involvement, And Use Among Youth, Sheila Ann Smith

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship exists between the music preferences, level of music involvement, and music uses among young people and the personality dimensions of internality (introversion), norm-acceptance, and sense of self-realization and psychological integration as measured by the Structural scales of the California Psychological Inventory.

An investigator-developed instrument was used to assess subjects' music preferences, level of music involvement, and uses of music. One hundred and sixty-three females and 137 males attending various southwestern Michigan colleges volunteered to complete both instruments. Subjects ranged in age from 18 to 20 years.

A one-way MANOVA …

A Comparison Of Minimal-Therapist-Contact Programs In The Treatment Of Chronic Headaches, John Kesselring

Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to compare the relative efficacy and cost-efficiency of two reduced-therapist-contact formats for delivery of a behavioral package to treat chronic headaches. The 8-week treatment was delivered in a group-administered format to one treatment group and in a self-administered format to a second. A waiting-list control group was also included. Treatment components included education about headaches and their precipitants, relaxation training, and cognitive-behavioral stress management techniques. The participants in the study suffered from migraine, mixed, or tension headaches. Eleven subjects were assigned to each of the 3 treatment conditions. At posttreatment subjects in the group-administered …

The Impact Of Type Of Ownership On Mental Health Organizations: The Privatization Alternative, Gary R. Mathews

Dissertations

In recent history most citizens have traditionally considered care of the mentally ill a public service, a government responsibility, and a financial expense best acquitted through taxation. A current topic of debate is whether or not mental health care should continue to be provided primarily in the public realm or instead be provided as a business. A question which must be answered as a part of this debate is: Does type of ownership affect service provision, and if so how? In order to answer this question data from the 1983 Inventory of Mental Health Organizations, a national survey sponsored by …