Social Work Commons^™

Student Reports Of Physical And Psychological Maltreatment In Schools: An Under Explored Aspect Of Student Victimization In Schools, Kathryn Suzanne Whitted

Doctoral Dissertations

Purpose

This study examined the extent to which students reported that adults in a school setting had mistreated them. Specifically, this study provides findings on the students’ perceptions of the extent to which they were the victims of physical maltreatment and psychological maltreatment during their school careers. The study investigated whether the types or frequency of maltreatment was related to demographic characteristics of the student (i.e., race and gender).

Methods

The sample (N = 50) was composed of students in alternative education schools in the southeastern U.S. during the 2004-2005 school year. Students reported the frequency and types of …

Social And Emotional Development Of Children 0 To 36 Months In Poverty, Valentina Bopkova

Doctoral Dissertations

The study examined the effects of poverty on young children’s social and emotional development through the effects poverty has on parenting. National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) was the chosen data set. Total of 148 children and their parents (primarily mothers) took part in the study, at two survey time points 1998 and 2000. The study was a reanalysis of survey data and not an original survey data collection. There were two types of regression analyses performed ("snap-shot" and motion-picture"). First each of the four crafted hypotheses was tested within one time frame, and then year 1998 was used as …

A Criterion Validity Study Of Individuals' Reports Of Gunfire And Recorded Gunfire, Sylvia Jane Sergent

Doctoral Dissertations

The focus of this study was the validation of people's reports of gunfire in two inner city neighborhoods in the Southeast. A survey design was used in which 342 people were interviewed by telephone. An ARIMA analysis was conducted to determine the relationship between people's gunfire reports and 58 days of ShotSpotter recordings. The results indicated that the percentage of residents reporting the presence of gunfire was a valid predictor of night gunfire. However, residents' reports of the actual number of gunshots did not appear valid. Reports of gunfire did not appear to have a statistically significant correlation with 911 …

Aggression And The Big Five Personality Factors Of Grades And Attendance, Juan J. Barthelemy

Doctoral Dissertations

The focus of this study was to determine whether aggression adds incremental validity above and beyond the big five personality factors in predicting academic success. An archival data analysis was used in this study. The data \vas consisted of all of the eight grade students who were present when the data was collected in a middle school in the SoutheasteIl1 region of the United States. The students completed the Personal Style Inventory-Adolescent (PSI-A), which is a 120 item survey instrument designed to measure the big five personality factors and aggression. Results from this study indicated that aggression does in fact …

Assessing Cultural Receptivity In Fostering: Scale Development And Validation, Tanya M. Coakley

Doctoral Dissertations

A shortage of foster parents of diverse cultures coupled with the problem of an overrepresentation of children of minority cultures in the child welfare system has resulted in a dire need to place children in families that do not share cultures (i.e., transcultural placements). Children in foster and adoptive placements suffer the loss of their birth families and are at risk for losing knowledge about their past generations (Deberry, Scarr, & Weinberg, 1996; Thoburn, Norford, & Rashid, 2000). Children in transcultural placements are further at-risk for consequent loss of their cultural heritages. Therefore, it is imperative for transcultural foster parents …

An Examination Of The Psychometric Properties Of The Casey Foster Applicant Inventory – Worker Version (Cfai-W), Gary S. Cuddeback

Doctoral Dissertations

Foster family applicants form the pool from which caregivers are selected for the day-to-day care of the many vulnerable children placed in foster care, but limited research exists concerning the reliability and validity of standardized measures for assessing the potential of foster family applicants to provide successful foster care. This dissertation examines the psychometric properties of the Casey Foster Applicant Inventory – Worker Version (CFAI-W), a paper and pencil tool designed to assess the strengths and training and service needs of family foster care applicants.

Retrospective data were collected from 208 foster care workers who had at least one year …

Dating Violence And Psychosocial Problems: Exploratory Findings From A Sample Of Adolescents Facing Unwanted Pregnancy, Gretchen E. Ely

Doctoral Dissertations

Empirical studies of adolescent dating violence have mainly focused on changing attitudes and knowledge levels. These studies are mostly conducted in mixed gender classroom settings. Results from these studies do not provide knowledge of which psychological/social (psychosocial) problems co-occur with dating violence in at-risk adolescent populations. The current study provides exploratory information related to dating violence in adolescent pregnancy termination patients, a subset of the population virtually ignored by the adolescent literature. In this study, 120 adolescent pregnancy termination patients ages 14 through 21 completed the Conflict in Adolescent Relationships Inventory (CADRI) and the Multi-dimensional Adolescent Assessment Scale (MAAS). Linear …

Perceived Severity, Expected Improvement And Goal Of Change As Factors Of Appointment Keeping Behaviors In Outpatient Mental Health Treatment, Charlene P. Bruley

Doctoral Dissertations

A field study was conducted to investigate the relationship between the number of problems identified by clients, their expectancy of improvement, a client’s identified therapy goal, and the number of missed appointments. Information about the number of problems, expectancy of improvement and therapy goal were obtained prior to the client first meeting with his/her therapist. The case records of 90 clients (N=416) who attended a non-metropolitan county outpatient mental health agency were reviewed. Data was collected on the number of problems identified by clients, whether a client expected to reduce reported distress, and whether a client identified a therapy goal. …

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 …