Social Work Commons^™

Family Conflict And Family Cohesion: Their Relationship To Youths’ Behavior Problems, Rebecca Launt Sapp

Doctoral Dissertations

This study tested the hypotheses that family conflict and family cohesion would be significant predictors of youths’ problem behaviors after controlling for demographic variables and other family process variables. The sample included 156 adolescents, teachers, and parents. Adolescents and parents completed three self-report family functioning instruments (FACES II, SFI, FES); all sources completed the CBCL. Adolescents’ reports supported both hypotheses. Results varied when mothers’ and fathers’ reports were used. Fathers’ reports showed only family conflict to be significant, and mothers’ reports showed only family cohesion to be significant. Teachers’ reports showed no significant results. Implications of these results are discussed.

Data Visualization: Graphical Representation In The Evaluation Of Experimental Group Therapy Education Outcomes, Randall E. Basham

Doctoral Dissertations

Introduction: An important methodological consideration in the social sciences is the evaluation of the effectiveness of groups and specific group interventions. There is an increasing demand for service accountability in practice settings both in social services and public health services. Group services are rising as a practice modality. Emerging technology shows promise of providing the means for practitioners untrained in advanced research methods to gain useful information and improved decision- making capacities related to groups and group services. Computer based graphical representation of data patterns at multiple levels of analysis can provide the bases for data exploration and lead to …

An Examination Of The Relationships Between Value Conflict, Quality Of Worklife, Job Satisfaction And Job Retention Among Employees Working In Urban And Rural County Human Service Departments In The State Of Ohio, Laurie Gracheck White

Doctoral Dissertations

Public human service settings are highly bureaucratic organizations with tight centralization of policy decision-making. They can be inhospitable places for conducting professional work and most appropriate for performing routine tasks based on standardized procedures. Against this backdrop of control, human service workers are asked to respond to the unique and unpredictable problems of people struggling unsuccessfully in society. The inconsistency between work structure and professional responsibility can generate value conflict for public human service employees. There are conflicts of loyalty to employers, laws, clients, colleagues, funding sources, regulations, and the community at large. These conflicts can have profound implication for …

A Formative Evaluation Of An Empathy Training Model, Beverly Mckee

Doctoral Dissertations

Statement of the Problem: No specific, short term model of empathy has been developed and tested with the general adult population even though researchers have established a link between empathic skills and the art of helping and caring for others. Additionally, as a major component of "emotional intelligence," it is argued that empathy enhances successful living in general (Gibbs, 1995). A large body of research suggests that more empathic people tend to engage in more altruistic behaviors, are less aggressive, are more affiliative, score higher on measures of moral judgement, and are more pleasant to be around (Mehrabian, Young, and …

An Exploratory Examination Of The Interrelationships Among Parenting Beliefs, Parenting Stress, And Parenting-Child Interaction In The Context Of Maternal Polydrug Addiction And Prenatal Drug Exposure, Darlene Grant

Doctoral Dissertations

The focus in this dissertation was on the interrelationships among parenting beliefs, parenting stress, and parent-child interaction. It was hypothesized that mothers' addiction status moderated these interrelationships when controlling for the effects of income, levels of education, race, age, number of children, and child's prematurity status.

Data from a program evaluation of a residential addiction treatment program and comparison data from five day care centers were collected from August 1991 to August 1993 using the Adult-Adolescent Parenting Inventory, the Parenting Stress Index, and the Parent-Child Interaction Form. The sample included 39 polydrug-addicted and 31 non-drug-addicted mothers of infants and young …

Authorities On Ourselves: Being Lesbian In Heterosexist Culture -- Can Personal Meaning Inform Social Work Practice?, Sue Cover Wright

Doctoral Dissertations

This study was designed to explore the social reality of lesbian women. Its theoretical base lies in the social constructionist theory that the social context interacts with personal experience to create social meaning. Professional social science literature presents a confused account of lesbianism. Clinical studies have diagnosed and labeled lesbianism as a disease, a dysfunctional personality disorder, or poor social adjustment. Recent studies viewed them as an oppressed minority group. Few studies have gone to the source and asked the women to define themselves -- what it is like to be lesbian in our culture; what their experience means to …

The Social Reality Of A Group Of Rural, Low-Status Appalachian Women: A Grounded Theory Study, Judith Ivy Fiene

Doctoral Dissertations

This study was designed to develop a deeper understanding of the social realities of low-status, rural Appalachian women. Its methodological base is to be found in phenomenological philosophy which points to the power of the social context in the construction of social meanings.

Existing studies of low-status Appalachian women present conflicting pictures of the women and contain little information regarding the women's point of view. Some observers have portrayed the women as members of a traditionalist subculture -- unable to adapt to the modern world -- exhibiting dysfunctional personality characteristics (Looff, 1971; Photiadis, 1970; Polansky, 1972; Weller, 1965). Other observers …