Clinical Psychology Commons^™

The Relationship Between Parental Incarceration And African-American High School Students' Attitudes Towards School And Family, Willie Lee Stroble

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether African-American adolescent high school students who have (or have had) at least one parent incarcerated differed on several variables as compared to African-American adolescent high school students who lived with both parents and those who did not have an incarcerated parent but who lived with only one parent.;John Marshall High School in Richmond, Virginia was the institution studied for this project. John Marshall was chosen for several reasons: the student researcher had access to this population and it was believed that a majority of the students at this institution came from …

Applying The Transtheoretical Model Of Change To Court-Ordered/Dui Outpatient Treatment Clients, Cynthia Munch Levy

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

This study applied the Transtheoretical model of change to a court ordered/DUI client population to aid counselors in developing a more effective differential treatment model. Clients were individuals convicted of DUI and referred for treatment to one of 4 community mental health centers. at their first meeting, 150 clients completed surveys measuring stage of change (SOC), processes of change, self-efficacy, and decisional balance concerning their drinking. Demographic data was also taken. After treatment, number of sessions attended and successful or unsuccessful discharge was recorded.;Results found significantly more men (122) than women (28). There were significantly more men (81%) than women …

Views Of Feminist Family Therapy: A Q-Methodological Inquiry, Bronwen Cheek

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The feminist critique of family therapy has had a growing impact on theory and practice for almost two decades (Hare-Mustin, 1978; Bograd, 1990). Writings on feminist family therapy (FFT) reveal both common and diverse opinions about what FFT is. The present study examined how views of FFT are segmented using Q-methodology (Stephenson, 1953; Brown, 1980; McKeown & Thomas, 1988), a small-sample empirical technique for identifying emergent viewpoints and studying their similarities and differences. A Q-sort instrument of 60 statements was constructed to sample diverse discourse on FFT. Magraw's (1992) interviews with leading experts in FFT served as a primary source …

Cultural Commitment And Attitudes Toward Seeking Counseling Services In African-Americans, Jessamine M. Montero

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this project was to explore possible relations between African-American acculturation level and attitudes of seeking professional psychological help. A sample of 120 African-American residents of Huntington, WV, completed survey questionnaires designed to assess: cultural commitment levels; attitudes toward counseling; and awareness of the Prestera Center for Mental Health Services, a local mental health center. Cultural commitment levels were assessed by self-ratings of African-Americans to the Anglo- and African-American cultures, and to the specific Huntington Anglo- and African-American cultures; respondants also rated their perceptions of mental health professionals' commitment levels to the Anglo-, African-, Huntington Anglo-, and Huntington …

Neuropsychological Functioning Among Violent And Nonviolent Sex Offenders, Pamela Knox-Jones

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Violent sex offenders, nonviolent sex offenders, violent non-sex offenders, and nonviolent non-sex offenders were compared on neuropsychological testing and on personality testing. A neuropsychological test battery and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory - 2 (MMPI-2) were administered to 93 and 50 male felons respectively. Subjects were drawn from a data base provided by the state Department of Corrections. Potential indicators of neuropsychological impairment were controlled during the selection process. Analyses of Variance (alpha =.05) found that violent sex offenders scored significantly lower than the other three groups on two measures that are sensitive to left hemisphere impairment and one that …

Responsibility As A Factor In Adjustment For Siblings Of Children With Retardation, Victoria Boccelli Damiani

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Forty mothers of children with retardation and forty-one mothers of children without disabilities rated their nondisabled children on levels of in-home responsibility and psychological adjustment. Siblings of children with retardation were found to show significantly more difficulty in psychological adjustment but not more in-home responsibility. Mean scores on ratings of psychological adjustment were in the normal range for both groups. There was no relationship between the degree of responsibility the sibling had in the home and the degree of psychological difficulty. Girls in both groups had significantly more responsibility than boys. Mothers of children with disabilities did not report closer …

An Analysis Of Early Marital Adjustment: The Role Of Narcissism, Cognitive, And Family Systems Variables, Larry Stephen Armstrong

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The purpose of this study was to explore the relevance of both intrapsychic and family systems variables for the early marital adjustment of 71 couples in their twenties at the time of marriage, who were married in two central Virginia localities. The intrapsychic variables included subjects' marital locus of control and both subjects' and subjects' spouses' levels of narcissism. The family systems variables included six factors which have been found to be correlated with early marital adjustment. Three of these six factors were: (1) whether the couple married within a year of a significant loss; (2) whether either spouse reported …

Divorce Adjustment: Anxiety, Self-Esteem, And Locus-Of-Control, Grace John Hadeed

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The purpose of this study was to examine personality factors related to adult divorce adjustment with a particular focus on anxiety, self esteem and locus of control.;Bowen Theory, with particular emphasis on the concept of differentiation of self, provided the theoretical rationale for this study. While Bowen related his concepts to marital and family functioning, the theory did not address the process of divorce. The present study attempted to fill a gap in the divorce literature by expanding Bowen Theory, with a primary investigative focus on adult post divorce adjustment and level of differentiation.;All 62 research subjects completed instrument packets …

The Relationship Between The Content And Quality Of Ex-Spousal Interactions And The Adjustment Of Stepchildren: An Exploratory Study, Bradley Lawrence Elison

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between ex-spousal interactions following remarriage and the behavioral and emotional adjustment of stepchildren. The subjects for the study were volunteers and were recruited for the study either through The PACES Family Counseling Center at The College of William and Mary or through a networking sampling procedure. The study participants included stepchildren between the ages of 8 and 16, and their residential biological parents.;Thirty-one stepchild/biological-parent pairs participated in the study by completing a series of questionnaires relevant to ex-spousal interactions and children's adjustment. Ex-spousal interactions were assessed using The Content of …

A Validity Study Of The Control/Nurture Dimensions Of The Sale-Hendren Model Of Structural Family Therapy, Robert George Mahan

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The purpose of this study was to validate a model of Structural Family Therapy promulgated by M. S. Sale and Thomas Hendren and in use by many public agencies in the Commonwealths of Virginia and North Carolina since 1981.;The Newport News Department of Social Services was chosen as the main site for the investigation as this author had learned the model while working there; and at the time the research began, all social workers at the agency were being trained in the model. Many middle to lower class SES clients were receiving SFT at the time for a variety of …

Body-Image Attitudes And Perceptions Among African-Americans And Whites As A Function Of Socioeconomic Class, Christopher Eugene Huffine

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

While many facets of body image have been extensively researched, relatively few studies have examined racial and social class differences in body image. The present paper consists of two studies examining racial and class differences in body image among males and females. Study 1 utilized a national sample of respondents to a 1985 Psychology Today survey to examine racial (Black and White) and educational differences in body image among men and women. Study 2 utilized a smaller sample of Black subjects, half drawn from several Southeastern universities and the other half from non-academic locations in the Tidewater area of Virginia …

Mmpi Profiles Of Sexual Perpetrators, Steven G. Vaupel

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to compare MMPI scores of 60 men referred for assessment and/or counseling at community mental health facilities. No MMPI protocols were excluded due to elevated validity configurations (70T or above). Forty of the referrals were referred for suspected child sexual abuse. Twenty of the referrals admitted (Admitter) to sexually abusing a child at the time of referral and twenty did not admit (Nonadmitter) to sexually abusing a child when referred. A control group of the remaining twenty subjects were referred for various offenses, none of which included sexual offenses against children. Significant differences were …

Symptom-Specific And Nonsymptom-Specific Factors In Eating Disorders: A Comparison Of Bulimics, Dieters, And Normals, Jill Washychyn

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Components Of Reminiscence As Correlated With Level Of Psychological Adjustment In Institutionalized Geriatrics, Karen L. Kepler

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Attributions For Violence In Relationships: Do Battered Women Blame Themselves?, Debra Down

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The central purpose of this research was to compare attributions of blame for spousal violence made by women who were in violent relationships with those of abused women who had sought shelter and those of women who had never been abused. Both clinicians and researchers (e.g., Frieze, 1979; Walker, 1979) have included victims of marital abuse among victims who self-blame, and have contended that self-blame contributes to remaining in an abusive relationship. Previous work, however, has not considered the repetitive nature of spouse abuse, and has routinely confounded self-causality with self-blame.

Nonabused women and abused women who remained in relationships …

Effects Of Distance And Sex On Verbal Productivity And Anxiety, Peter Lindsay Rogers

Masters Theses

The present study was designed to determine whether physical distance between male and female interviewees and a female interviewer affected verbal productivity and anxiety level when interviewees discussed academic, social, and personal topics. The interview was conceptualized as an information-gathering interview. Crucial variables in such interviews are client participation and information flow. Client verbal productivity appears to be directly related to these variables, and was used as one dependent variable to measure the impact of distance on interviewee verbal behavior. A self-report measure of anxiety, the Fear Thermometer was used as a second dependent variable.

The experimental distances used in …

Family Interaction Studies And The Etiology Of Schizophrenia, Kenneth Eugene Kirby

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Correlation Of Perceptual And Cognitive Measures In Older Institutionalized Men, Carol Ann Horvat Kominski

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.