Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Examination Of Community Mental Health Services For Persons With Serious Mental Illness: A Descriptive Study Of 31 Counties In Michigan, Pamela C. Werner

Masters Theses

Thirty-one out of 55 Community Mental Health Boards participated in a survey conducted by the Alliance for the Mentally Ill of Michigan. This study examined a number of variables in the questionnaire using a product-moment correlational analysis.

Results indicated that family and consumer input is modestly correlated with comprehensive service delivery and staff/consumer education and training. Budget and the active number of mentally ill cases had a low correlation with comprehensive service delivery and staff/consumer education and training. Interagency collaboration was modestly correlated with program evaluation, and comprehensive services available to consumers. Weaknesses were noted in the management structure of …

Interest Group Influence On U.S. Congressional Committees: A Case Study Of The United States-Canada Free Trade Agreement, Laurel L. Hoffman

Masters Theses

The impact of special interests on Congress has long been a matter for concern. A content analysis of testimony presented at 14 Congressional committee hearings on the United States-Canada Free Trade Agreement revealed that three broad categories of witnesses participated: business, government, and non-business. Total testimony for business and government were comparable, while non-business had fewer witnesses and less testimony. Government supplied more testimony in oral form, which was interpreted as a higher degree of participation than written testimony, predominantly supplied by business. There was little evidence of lobbying coalitions as measured by crossreferencing; witnesses rarely referred to anything but …

An Arbitrary Matching Training Supplement To The Avc Discrimination Test, Charles P. Buller

Masters Theses

Kerr, Meyerson and Flora (1977) devised a series of small learning tasks that could be used to assess developmentally disabled individuals on the typical tasks to be performed in a school setting or sheltered workshop and required only very simple equipment. Davine (1990) suggested that there may be transitional skills between AVC levels IV and V not found by Kerr et al. Davine looked at four experimental steps designed to test this notion. The results of this study were inconclusive. Wilson (1991) tested the same notion by devising a series of nonidentity matching tasks which were generally found to be …

An Arbitrary Matching Training Supplement To The Avc Discrimination Test, Charles P. Butler

Masters Theses

Kerr, Meyerson and Flora (1977) devised a series of small learning tasks that could be used to assess developmentally disabled individuals on the typical tasks to be performed in a school setting or sheltered workshop and required only very simple equipment. Davine (1990) suggested that there may be transitional skills between AVC levels IV and V not found by Kerr et al. Davine looked at four experimental steps designed to test this notion. The results of this study were inconclusive. Wilson (1991) tested the same notion by devising a series of non identity matching tasks which were generally found to …

Detection Of Sexual Cues: An Assessment Of Nonaggressive And Sexually Coercive College Males, Rita Kenyon-Jump

Dissertations

Seventy-four nonaggressive and 78 sexually coercive college males, as determined by the Sexual Experiences Survey (Koss & Oros, 1982) and ranging in age from 18-25 years, participated in a study designed to assess their ability to detect specific behavioral cues of female partners’ unwillingness to engage in kissing, genital fondling, and sexual intercourse. Contrary to prediction, a 2 (nonaggression and sexual coercion) X 3 (kissing, fondling, and intercourse) analysis of variance revealed no statistically significant difference between the nonaggressive and sexually coercive males in their ability to detect cues of female unwillingness to engage in kissing, genital fondling, and sexual …

Perceptions Of Racial Climate In Residence Halls Between African-American And Euroamerican College Students, Vanessa D. Johnson-Durgans

Dissertations

This study was undertaken to determine if African-American residents perceive the racial climate of residence halls differently than do Euroamerican residents at a predominantly Euroamerican university in southwest Michigan. The questions explored in this study were:

1. Do African-American residents perceive the hall environment differently than Euroamerican residents?

2. Do African-American residents perceive the residence hall government differently than Euroamerican residents?

3. Do African-American residents perceive the halls' student staff differently than Euroamerican residents?

4. Do African-American residents perceive their relation to other residents differently than Euroamerican residents?

This study consisted of analyzing the results of this writer's questionnaire e …

The Construction Of The Right To Development: The United Nations, Human Rights, And Economic Development, Nader Izzat Said

Dissertations

The origins of human rights are of interest to social scientists. This study focuses on the construction process of the right to development as related to the UN. The emphasis is on the claims-making processes surrounding the creation of the right to development. To understand these processes, a theoretical framework has been developed. This framework combines interactionism, collective-behavior approaches, a dialectical theory of law-creation, and a capitalist world-economy theory. It is expected that this theoretical framework will explain the specific, organizational, and structural processes that led to the creation of the right to development.

Data for this study came from …

Training And Maintenance Of Breast Self-Examination Skills, Bernardine M. Pinto

Dissertations

Maintenance of breast self-examination (BSE) skills is crucial to the effectiveness of self-exams in early detection of breast tumors. While researchers have developed an effective technology for training these skills, the maintenance of BSE proficiency is questionable (Pennypacker et al., 1982). The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of reassessment (and retraining) on the maintenance of BSE skills. Twenty-nine women (ages 25-64) were trained to criterion using the MammaCare training package. Experimental subjects were required to demonstrate their skills at a 2 month reassessment and received retraining if their skills had declined below criterion. Control subjects were …

How Gender And Psychological Separation From Parents Interact With Depression In The Young Adult Experience Of Parental Separation And Divorce, Mary Oppenhuizen

Dissertations

The impact of parental divorce on children under the age of 18 has been studied extensively (Hetherington, 1979, 1981; Kurdek & Siesky, 1980; Wallerstein & Blakeslee, 1989; Wallerstein & Kelly , 1974, 1976, 1980). There has been far less research addressing effects of parental divorce on young adults (Bianchi, Rosen, & Reilly , 1987; Cain, 1989; Cooney, Smyer, Hagestad, & Klock, 1986; Farber, Primavera, & Felner, 1983; Kaufmann, 1987/1988). This may be due to the "common" assumption that young adults are psychologically separated from their parents in such a way that they suffer minimally when encountering parental divorce.

In this …

Neuropsychological Effects Of Short-Term Abstinence In Adolescent Alcoholics, Asiah Mayang

Dissertations

The Michigan Neuropsychological Battery (Smith, 1975) was administered to 14 to 17-year-old alcoholics from an inpatient and outpatient substance abuse treatment center within 7 days of their last drink, and again after 28-33 days of abstinence (a = 26). Comparisons were made between this group and an adolescent alcoholic group who did not abstain and was not receiving treatment for their alcohol abuse (n = 15). The non-abstaining group was also given the same test battery twice. Results indicated that subjects who abstained from drinking (experimental group) performed better than subjects who did not abstain (control group) on measures of …

The Effects Of Training And Experience On The Ability To Detect Relapse Precipitants In A Substance Abuse Client, Michael F. Sunich

Dissertations

This study examined the effects of training and experience on counselors' ability to detect relapse precipitants in substance abuse clients. Eighty counselor trainees from Western Michigan University and the University of Northern Colorado participated. They were classified as to their previous level of experience and then exposed to either the treatment condition or the control condition. Pretest-posttest data were gathered using a modified version of the Alcohol Confidence Questionnaire (Annis & Graham, 1988) (ACQ-M).

The findings from this study suggest that counselors with previous substance abuse experience tend to show less confidence in a client's ability to remain abstinent than …

Sense Of Humor As A Mediator Of The Effects Of Stress On Physical Health And Psychological Well-Being, Timothy Eugene Spruill

Dissertations

This paper explores the role of sense of humor as a mediator of the effects of stress on physical health and psychological well-being. One hundred subjects, selected from a population of hospital employees, were administered two measures of sense of humor. In addition, they completed a personal data form, and instruments assessing stressors, perceived stress, physical health and psychological well-being.

Results were evaluated using simple correlations and multiple regression analysis in order to determine whether or not knowledge of a subject's sense of humor enables prediction of their levels of physical health, psychological well-being and perceived stress. Analysis of the …

Experimental And Theoretical Analyses Of Instructional Tasks: Reading, Discrimination, And Construction, Satoru Shimamune

Dissertations

The effectiveness and efficiency of three kinds of workbooks were compared in teaching behavioral systems analysis to college students. Each workbook contained the same content but utilized different types of instructional tasks. The reading workbook had the definitions, and examples and nonexamples of the concepts to be taught, and the subjects were asked to read them. The discrimination workbook had the same definitions, examples and nonexamples, but the subjects were asked to work on discriminating the examples from the nonexamples. Feedback was given with regard to the correctness of the subjects' responses. The construction workbook had the same definitions of …

The Effects Of Public-Posted Feedback On The Use Of A Photocopy Machine By Faculty In An Academic Department, Shijing Hu

Masters Theses

This study assessed the effects of a public-posting intervention on photocopy machine use by faculty members in an academic department. Public posting included posting of a chart that displayed number of copies made each week by individual faculty members along with the average cumulative rate of copying for previous weeks for each person. The intervention was applied in an A-B-A reversal design where data were collected prior to the intervention under usual conditions (A), during public posting (B), and after the public posting intervention was removed and usual conditions were restored (A). The results indicated that: (1) number of copies …

Political Action Committees In The State Of Michigan, Keeley I. Taylor

Masters Theses

A survey was conducted of all political action committees (PACs) registered with the Secretary of State's Office in Michigan for the 1986 and 1990 Statewide elections. A portrait of the structure of the organization, decision making criteria, and solicitation techniques of Michigan PACs has been developed from the survey data.

Most PACs in Michigan tend to be infant organizations because they are cyclical in nature, forming and dissolving around election periods. They tend to form around economic issues; have no specific PAC office; no permanent staff; have little or no office budget; fund their activities through direct mail solicitation; focus …

The Effect Of Public Posting And Supervisor Recognition On Treatment Team Performance In A Mental Health Institution, Susan Mencarelli

Masters Theses

This study compared the effects of public posting and supervisor recognition on the performance of professional staff in a mental health institution. Eleven indicators of successful performance in the writing of patient treatment plans were established after an analysis of existing standards. Seven treatment teams comprised the subjects of the study and included psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, nurses, activity therapists, and residential care aides. Group performance data were used. The measurement and scoring systems which were developed proved to be highly reliable.

Neither form of performance feedback resulted in consistent improvement in performance on any of the eleven indicators. This …

Mdma And Memory: The Acute And Chronic Effects Of Mdma In Pigeons Performing Under A Delayed-Matching-To-Sample Procedure, Mark Lesage

Masters Theses

The physiological effects of (+) 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) have been studied extensively. The behavioral effects of MDMA, however, have not been examined in detail. In an attempt to gain further information about its behavioral effects, the acute and chronic effects of MDMA were examined in pigeons responding under a delayed-matching-to-sample procedure with 0-, 3-, and 6-s delays. In the absence of drug, accuracy (percentage o f correct responses) was inversely related to delay length. When administered pre-chronically, MDMA (0.32 to 5.6 mg/kg) decreased accuracy and response rates at higher doses. Tolerance developed following chronic exposure to 3.2 mg/kg. Performance did not …

Applied Relaxation Training In The Treatment Of Genital Herpes, Kent A. Koehn

Dissertations

Four individuals with frequent recurrences of genital herpes simplex virus (HSV) were trained in Applied Relaxation (AR). Participants included in the research were all women, had been diagnosed with herpes at least one year prior to the study, experienced 6 or more outbreaks annually, and were not taking antiviral medications.

The experiment employed a multiple baseline across subjects design with individual baselines of 11, 13, 17, and 21 weeks. Participants maintained daily diary recordings of the frequency, duration, and severity of their herpes activity from baseline until a minimum of three months post-treatment.

Treatment consisted of 10 individual AR sessions. …

Foster Parents’ Experience Of Loss And Their Coping Response Style, Kathleen M. Kirby

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the subjective experience of emotional and physical stress reported by foster parents that may be caused by serial placements of foster children. It also addressed the coping response mechanisms and style of foster parents that may promote successful endurance of serial losses. In addition, the relationship between specific coping responses of foster parents was investigated to determine if the circumstances of placement or characteristics of foster parents interact to exacerbate or remediate emotional/physical stress.

Demographics were tabulated for Michigan foster parents including age, family income, religious affiliation, racial/cultural identification, marital status, educational …

Juvenile Justice: An Examination Of Disparities In Dispositions, Michael P. Brown

Dissertations

The present study tests the utility of status characteristics and expectation states theory in the context of the juvenile court. The theory contends that there is dispositional certainty when case related factors are consistently rated serious or nonserious; the severity of the sanction will reflect the seriousness of the case. However, the likelihood of sentencing disparities based on individual characteristics (e.g., race and SES) increases as case related factors become increasingly inconsistent, with some rated serious and others rated nonserious.

Data to test this theory were collected from the Kalamazoo County Juvenile Court, Kalamazoo, Michigan in June and July, 1990. …

A Measure Of State-Trait Anger With Adolescent Sex Offenders, Adolescent Delinquents, And A Normal Adolescent Population, Brett D. Lincoln

Dissertations

Research indicates that sexual offending juveniles are angry. Furthermore, sexual offending is seen as a primary means to reduce anger by these youth. However there is little empirical support of these positions. Few comparative studies of sexual offenders with other experimental or control groups exist.

The purpose of this study was to assess differences of anger among three adolescent groups: juvenile delinquent, sexual offender and a control. Assessment of anger was across six subscales of Spielberger's (1988) State Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI). The subscales of interest were: State, Trait, Trait Anger Temperament, Trait Anger Repressed, Anger Expression/In and Anger …

The Rise And Decline Of Mental Health Hospitals In The State Of Michigan, Gerald H. Smith

Dissertations

The State of Michigan has been partially responsible for the treatment of the mentally ill population since 1832, when Wayne County General Hospital opened its doors. The state government made a commitment to care for the afflicted, and at the same time provide an opportunity for other individuals to participate in their treatment. Eventually this commitment led to the establishment of employment for many citizens, and gradually, over the decades, a mental health bureaucracy emerged. It was necessary to hire not only professional staff, but also support staff such as food services, housekeeping, maintenance, and the like. Mental health facilities …

The Differential Effects Of Performance Monitoring And Performance Contingent Consequences In A Laboratory Setting, Julie A. Glasser

Masters Theses

A simulated work task, consisting of paper and pencil quality control inspection, was used to examine the effects of performance monitoring and performance-contingent feedback on the quality and quantity of work produced. Six subjects were exposed to two treatment conditions. During monitoring only, a supervisor checked performance by asking subjects about their progress. During performance-contingent feedback, a supervisor informed subjects of the number of correct inspections completed on a sample page and summarized the quality of their work in a brief statement. Performance was measured in terms of error detection accuracy (errors missed and false error detections) and rate of …

The Suburban Rice Farmers: Economic And Cultural Change In Japan, Makoto Chiwaki

Masters Theses

The world economic situation is forcing the Japanese government to initiate policies designed to make its rice farming industry more competitive on the world market. These new policies, along with the growth of Japan's urban areas, are causing certain stresses on the cultural institution called bunke among the part-time rice farmers in the Kaizuka region of Chiba City, Japan.

An ethnographic study of these farmers reveals that the farmers of the Kaizuka region have responded to recent changes differently from the farmers of other regions because of their cultural institutions and traditions.

The Rhetoric Of Slobodan Milosevic And War On The Territory Of Yugoslavia, Agneza Bozic

Masters Theses

The hypothesis of this work is that the political rhetoric of the Serbian leader, Milosevic, was among the major factors contributing to the political and social changes in Serbia and Yugoslavia, which ultimately led to the war.

Three of Milosevic's speeches were studied in detail: the speeches of April 24, 1987, October 17, 1988, and November 19, 1988. The method of rhetorical analysis was adopted from Andrews (1990) because this method stresses the importance of context and effects of the speech. The theories of political language (Graber, 1981) and of political rhetoric (Bitzer, 1981) together with Johannesen's (1989) theory of …

Improving Service Quality Through Self-Monitoring, John Patrick Mcdonough Iii

Dissertations

A multiple-baseline across-restaurants design was used to assess the effectiveness of a quality guarantee (performance checklist) on the quality of food served at two carryout pizza restaurants in a Midwestern city of approximately 100,000 people. The research consisted of having the quality of food monitored by research assistants who served as mystery shoppers trained in the quality standards of the restaurants. Quality was monitored during baseline, when normal operating procedures were in effect at the restaurant, and during intervention, when employees who delivered food to customers were required to sign a quality guarantee. In one intervention phase, employees checked off …

The Effect Of Associative Distance On The Formation Of Transitive Relations, Robert G. Brown Jr.

Dissertations

Three children, aged eight to eleven years, were taught a series of conditional discriminations using two classes of 26 abstract visual stimuli. The conditional relations were ordered such that the correct comparison stimuli of one relation served as the sample stimuli for the next relation. This allowed for the formation of a series of derived relations (both transitive and equivalence) that differed in terms of the number of intervening nodes. At regular intervals, the subjects' performances on the different transitive relations were tested using unreinforced probe trials.

All three subjects made virtually no errors on transitive relations containing up to …

The Effectiveness Of A Job Search Skills Training Program On The Job Readiness Of Undergraduate Malaysian Students Enrolled At Western Michigan University, Ibrahim Bin Hashim

Dissertations

The relevant body of research and literature applicable to this area emphasized the importance of job readiness among college students. Job seeking skills program can be rendered more effective and efficient by using a combination of several behavioral procedures.

The primary purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness of a job search skills training program on the job readiness of the undergraduate sponsored Malaysian students enrolled at Western Michigan University. Specifically the problem centered on the ability of the treatment program to help Malaysian students to become clearer and to increase their understanding about the importance of self-awareness, …

Career Dynamics Of Counselor Trainee Stereotyping: Bias Toward Physical Ability, Social Class, Gender, And Race Of Clients, J. Stephen Neynaber

Dissertations

Three different attitude surveys, developed by the researcher, were administered to counselor trainees (N =200) at Western Michigan University: The Attitudes of Counselor Trainees (A.C.T.) Survey, Multicultural Beliefs Inhibiting Appropriate Support (M-B.I.A.S.) Survey, and Career Beliefs Inhibiting Appropriate Support (CB. LA.S.) Survey. A 24-item demographics questionnaire was administered to trainees (n =124) who completed the A.C.T. Survey. A six-items Likert scale produced significant effect (p < .05) on counselor trainees' ratings of clients' potential for career success: (1) Awareness of Personal Strengths and Weaknesses, (2) Goal Orientation, (3) Self-esteem, (4) Energy Level, (5) Participation in Extracurricular Activities, and (6) Level of Honesty.

Five client demographic oppression variables, which the review of literature documented to evince negative bias from counselors, were included in 16 hypothetical client scenarios: physical handicaps (viz., hearing impairment and paraplegia), female sex, African-Americans, low …

Perceived Parental Care And Protection As Correlates Of Chronic Pain In Adults, Daniel L. Walberer

Dissertations

This research was undertaken to explore the significance of care and protection as correlates related to the experience of chronic pain in adults. Chronic pain may affect as many as ten percent of the American population and cost up to a billion dollars a year in treatment costs. It was hypothesized that certain parenting styles are related to the experience of chronic pain in adults.

Thirty male and female patients referred to The Center for Health Psychology and Medicine in Kalamazoo, Michigan who were diagnosed as experiencing chronic pain by a referring physician participated in this study. Each participant underwent …