Counseling Commons^™

Breaking The Silence: Advancing Knowledge About Adoption For Counseling Psychologists, Amanda Baden, Kathy P. Zamostny, Mary O'Leary Wiley, Karen M. O'Brien, Richard M. Lee

Department of Counseling Scholarship and Creative Works

Provides an introduction to the Major Contribution for this issue of Counseling Psychologist. The Major Contribution consists of an overview article describing the practice of adoption and two detailed reviews of recent empirical literature related to adoptive families and transracial adoptees. Given the prevalence of people affected by adoption, the lack of knowledge regarding adoption among researchers and practitioners, the inattention to adoption research by psychology, and the negative myths about and stigma faced by adoptive triad members, the Major Contribution will have the following as its purposes: (a) to increase awareness of the psychological and sociocultural issues involved in …

The Practice Of Adoption: History, Trends, And Social Context, Amanda Baden, Kathy P. Zamostny, Karen M. O'Brien, Mary O'Leary Wiley

Department of Counseling Scholarship and Creative Works

This article presents an overview of the practice of adoption to counseling psychologists to promote clinical understanding of the adoption experience and to stimulate research on adoption. The article includes definitions of adoption terminology, important historical and legal developments for adoption, a summary of adoption statistics, conceptualizations of adoption experience, themes and trends in adoption outcome research related to adoptees and birthparents, and selected theoretical models of adoption. The importance of considering social context variables in adoption practice and research is emphasized.

Community Correlates Of Rural Youth Violence, D. Wayne Osgood, Jeff M. Chambers

Center on Children, Families, and the Law: Faculty Publications

Rates of crime and delinquency vary widely across communities, and research going back many decades provides a good understanding of the nature, correlates, and probable causes of these community differences. Unfortunately, previous studies have been limited in an important way. Virtually all studies of communities and crime are based on large urban areas, almost totally excluding nonmetropolitan areas—that is, rural areas and smaller cities and towns. The findings in this Bulletin help to fill some gaps in the research by examining variations in rates of juvenile violence across nonmetropolitan communities in Florida, Georgia, Nebraska, and South Carolina.

Social disorganization is …

Understanding Grief And Loss With Children From Divorced Families, Angela C. Meyer

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this paper is to present information about how grief and loss affect children from divorced families. Divorce can be just as traumatic as the death of a loved one, and the divorce rate continually increases every year. Two models of grief and how they apply to children of divorce are presented, as well as an explanation the process of grief in relation to divorce. Finally, this researcher identifies prevention and intervention techniques that schools and the whole community can use to aid children through the grief process of divorce.

Effects Of Maternal Depression On Youth Adjustment, Jennifer Alexander

Graduate Research Papers

Depressive disorders are chronic illnesses affecting women and their families for extended periods of time. This paper summarizes research related to the effects of maternal depression on children's short and long term adjustment. Children of depressed mothers are at risk for internalizing and externalizing disorders. Genetics account for a small portion of these problems. Since depressed mothers tend to withdraw or show intrusive, hostile behaviors with their children, parent-child interaction problems account for the majority of youth adjustment problems, particularly when mothers' depression is severe, occurs during infancy, is chronic, and is paired with high family conflict or separation. Individual …

Effects Of Divorce On Adolescents : Interventions, Abigail C. Buchan

Graduate Research Papers

The family environment is a major contributor to the development and well-being of children and adolescents. The traditional definition for family is ever changing, and diversity in families is becoming more acknowledged and accepted. It is well known that currently more than half of all marriages end in divorce. It is necessary to understand the significant challenges and issues that young people of divorced families are faced with in order to facilitate positive change and resiliency in the counseling process. The author provides a historical overview of the divorce epidemic, the effects of divorce on youth, as well as implications …

Are College Students Prepared For Conflict? : A Review On Conflict Resolution Among College Students, Marc J. Dalmasso

Graduate Research Papers

The following is a review of the research on the topic of conflict resolution in college age students. All of the research involved used college students as their participants. The purpose of this review was to find out if college students constructively resolve conflicts in their individual and professional lives. The research reveals that there are various factors that play a key role in how this age group comes to their resolution strategies. Nevertheless, students appear to use some nonconstructive techniques. However, constructive methods to be aware of are discovered as well as skills that may offer insight further into …