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Herland, By Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Michael R. Hill

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Herland is the first half of a witty, sociologically astute critique of life in the United States. This story concentrates ostensibly on three men-Van, Jeff, and Terry-who discover a small, uncharted country called Herland which, by force of an unusual accident of nature, has been governed and populated for two thousand years solely by women. Biological reproduction occurs miraculously by parthenogenesis (that is, without insemination). Charlotte Perkins Gilman exploits this contrived situation in order to contrast and compare the social features of a hypothetical woman-centered society to the harsh realities and crushing inequalities of everyday life found pervasively in male-dominated …

Joan Huber, Irving Louis Horowitz, And The Ideological Future Of Objectivity In American Sociology, Michael R. Hill

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The occasion of this essay is an unsolicited but welcome invitation to comment on Irving Louis Horowitz's (1993) most recent book, The Decomposition of Sociology, a work that is generating considerable discussion (e.g., Bauer Mengelberg 1995; Chriss 1994; Goldman 1994; Horowitz 1994, 1995; Pizzorno 1994; Wagner 1994). An invitation to discuss a book by Horowitz in a public forum-to which he is invited to respond-is a genuine honor eagerly accepted here with what is undoubtedly a too small twinge of apprehension, a twinge of the minimally regarded kind that allows proverbial fools to rush into intellectual tight spots from which …

Nonresidential Father Perception Of Father-Child Relationships: An Exploratory Analysis Of Family Functioning, Wendy J. Nicholls

Theses : Honours

Nonresidential father experiences of family life with their children lack attention in the literature. Nonresidential fathers often suffer considerably, as they attempt to continue their parenting role with limited access lime. Consequently, their relationships with their children may suffer, sometimes resulting in visitation ceasing altogether. Father contact is important to the developmental and psychological well-being of children, yet is often hindered by restricted access, distance, parental conflict and the father's emotional state. Nonresidential father perspectives of family life with their children are explored in this study, to gain insight into nonresidential father experiences. This study replicated a study conducted by …

An Evaluation Of The Norfolk Interagency Consortium's Community-Based System Of Care For At-Risk Youth, Melody Bingman Wilt

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

The primary purpose of this research was to design and to implement an evaluation model for the Norfolk Interagency Consortium (NIC). The research design employed in this study focused on four areas of investigation: program clarification, processes and activities, outcomes, and cost. The study utilized qualitative and quantitative methods and procedures.

The program clarification stage of the research served as a pre-evaluative phase. An evaluability assessment was incorporated to define and clarify the NIC'S program components and goals, and determine which goals were evaluable. Data regarding the target population also were collected.

The processes and activities investigation used a survey …

Adaptation During The Transition From High School To University: An Examination Of Selected Person, Environment And Transition Perception Variables, Sheldon Jacob Birnie-Lefcovitch

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Drawing on conceptual knowledge regarding normative life transitions and primary prevention and using a panel-design survey methodology, this study investigates factors that continue to student adaptation during the move from high school to university. All participants were first-time, full-time, first-semester students enrolled in biological or environmental science programs at a mid-size publicly funded university located in southwestern Ontario. Participants were surveyed twice: once prior to university entry and a second time following completion of their first-semester. The study determined that the vast majority of students view this transition as a normative life event, with most feeling ownership for the decision …

Living With A Memory-Impaired Spouse: (Re)Cognizing The Experience, (Re)Storying Support, Deborah Lynn O'Connor

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Dementia, of which Alzheimer's Disease is the most common, results in severe cognitive deterioration and the victim will become increasingly unable to manage his or her own care needs. Someone else will be required to take on responsibility for attending to these needs. If married, the person most likely to be implicated is the spouse. Research has documented that these spouses are at high risk in the caregiving role, yet are the least likely of all caregivers to utilize formal support. To date, this low use of services has been poorly understood despite concerns that without assistance, these spouses may …

Parents' Consideration Of The Preschool Child's Perspective Prior To Discipline, Cindy Fritchley-Griffith

Masters Theses

This study begins to develop a measure assessing parents' willingness to consider their preschool child's perspective, and the parents use of this information when considering appropriate disciplinary strategies. The literature on parenting includes this construct among the skills parents could use to increase the relationship and communication between themselves and their children; however, no research prior to this study shows empirical support for this construct. Thirty-two participants, all mothers of children between the ages to two and four, completed three measures: the Parent Behavior Checklist (PBC; Fox, 1994) and two measures developed for this study: vignettes (PCCV) and a direct …

Toward Developing A Model Of Responsive Pastoral Care For Adult Children Of Divorce, Betty Joanne Scott

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Reports on consequences of parental divorce identify a crucial need for involvement with caring adults in recovery and healing. The literature review includes reports of research and anecdotal surveys of "adult children of divorce." The literature review stimulates questions for qualitative research with a pastoral care focus. The thesis incorporates discussion about the church's role in helping individuals recover from divorce pain. It addresses contemporary concerns in group function, particularly in issues of pastoral care. An underlying assumption is a personal understanding that providing a healing community and participating in healing process is at the core of Christian mission. The …

In Mom And Dad's Shadows: An Exploration Of Family Of Origin Influence On Parenting Styles, Gregory Allan Bassett

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This thesis studies the influence that family of origin upbringing has on current parenting practice. Eight adult children were interviewed, and their experience, past and present, is interpreted within the literature review frame of two broad parent-child interactions: emotional support and parental control. Interviewees' current parenting behaviors are also examined within the literature review discussion on continuity of behavioral patterns between generations. Research findings are then discussed within a theological and pastoral focus on differentiation in family.

The Family System Grief Process As A Communicated Process: Understanding Grief Through Virginia Satir's Growth Model, Glenn Vincent Breen

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This thesis argues that the family system grief process can be understood as a communicated process. Through using Virginia Satir's communication stance theory, and applying it to a case study, this thesis found that when a family member dies, the family system enters a period of chaos. During the chaos time family members may rely on incongruent communication stances to cope with their loss. This incongruent chaotic period families experience is a congruent part of the grief process. Care-givers can help families through appropriately working with them in the chaos and coaching the families to recreate a new harmony and …

Supervised Access: A Qualitative Programme Evaluation, Bonnie Ann Gagne

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This qualitative evaluation examined the custodial and noncustodial parents' and children's experiences of using a supervised access programme. There were a total of forty-three interviews completed using open-ended questions. Both custodial and noncustodial parents clearly reported that if supervised access was not available, the child(ren) would not have contact with the noncustodial parent. In general, parents were grateful for the service being offered. Unfortunately, in some cases, the parents stated that the programme acted as an obstacle in allowing the family to progress. With respect to the children, even though custodial and noncustodial parents attempted to lessen the impact of …

Negative Affect, Explanatory Style, And Stressful Life Events In An Elementary School Population, David Taylor Johnston

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The prevalence of childhood depression is largely unknown due to widely discrepant methods, different assessment instruments, varying definitions of childhood depression, and different populations under investigation. Theoretical arguments have been made to suggest that gifted children are a population at risk for emotional and psychological disruption. Specifically, their advanced cognitive abilities are considered an emotional liability that could increase the chances of a depressive episode or even suicide. In addition, there have been theoretical articles to suggest that two correlates of depression are stressful life events and explanatory style. Students who experience more stress in their lives are more likely …

Women's Perceptions Of Environmental Change In Egypt, Eman El Ramly

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Explanatory Practice In Family Studies, Jetse Sprey

Sociology & Criminology Faculty Publications

The article makes a case for a more flexible and realistic explanatory practice in the family field. The conventional linkage between the worth of an explanatory statement and its predictive power, for, example, reflects cultural assumptions as much as it does rational thought. In one's culture, knowledge implies power so that prediction allows for control of the present and the foreseeable future. The sense making of, any specific descriptive piece of work depends on its focus. For example, how well does it allow noise to be separated from relevant information? How, far do its data reach into the future? To …

Review Of Child Care In Russia: In Transition By Jean Ispa, Carolyn P. Edwards

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Jean Ispa first observed and studied Soviet child care centers in 1993–94 as part of her doctoral research on toddler social behavior. In 1991, just before the demise of the Soviet Union, she returned to Russia for an intensive 3 months of research on current practices. Growing up in a household of Russian immigrants, she is fluent in the Russian language. Her knowledge of Russian language and culture, coupled with the long time horizon of her experience with American and Russian systems of education, render this new book a particularly enlightening, thoughtful, and balanced description of a system of child …

Democratic Participation In A Community Of Learners: Loris Malaguzzi's Philosophy Of Education As Relationship , Carolyn P. Edwards

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

We consider relationships to be the fundamental, organizing strategy of our educational system. -- Loris Malaguzzi, 1993, p. 10.

The metaphor of education as relationship provided Loris Malaguzzi with the fundamental premise for his philosophy and pedagogy. The child--seen as powerful, rich in resources, competent, and social--seeks from the beginning of life to find out about the self, others, and the world through interaction: knowledge is co-constructed. Education, hence, must focus not on the child considered in isolation from others, but instead on the child seen as interconnected with particular others in nested communities: home, classroom, school, neighborhood, city, region, …

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 …

Family Functioning And Migration: Considerations For Practice, Amith Ben-David

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

International migration is increasingly dominated by family considerations. Despite conflicts and tensions, the support system of the family is the main agent through which the adjustment to migration occurs. Social workers are in the front line in the treatment and acculturation of new immigrants. The present study explores how 145 social workers, comprising about 70% of those who treat new immigrants in the northern part of Israel, perceive family functioning in two very different migrant populations: arrivalsf rom the former Soviet Union on the one hand, andf rom Ethiopia on the other. Results indicate that practitioners viewed families from the …

The Association Between Perceived Family Support And Psychological Well-Being In Infertile Couples, Linda Marquardt Mintle

Health Services Research Dissertations

A correlational research design utilizing a cross-sectional survey methodology was used to investigate the association between perceived family support and psychological well-being in infertile couples. Family stress theory and the construct of boundary ambiguity were conceptual frameworks applied to the developmental family life cycle. Respondents were 35 married infertile couples with primary infertility recruited from a private For-profit infertility clinic located in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Responses on the Moos and Moos (1984) Family Environment Scale and from the SCL-90-R developed by Derogatis (1977) measured perceived family support and psychological distress respectively. Major findings indicated that infertile couples rated their families …

Maternal Morbidity In Menoufeya Governorate, Egypt: A Socio-Cultural Perspective, Naglaa A T Nahal

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Crisis Of Infertility: Effects Of Length Of Treatment On Emotional And Marital Adjustment, Christie L. Markestad

Graduate Theses

Twenty infertile couples participated in the present study to investigate whether infertile couples receiving medical treatment experience changes in their emotional, marital and sexual adjustment as a result of the length of time they have been in treatment. The couples were divided into three groups based on how long they had been seeking medical attention for infertility. The instruments administered were: SCL-90-R (Symptom Checklist), Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) and Index of Sexual Satisfaction (ISS). It was predicted couples who were in the initial stages of treatment would experience increased levels of emotional, marital and sexual distress, however those levels would …

Martial Adjustment Among Nontraditional Graduate Students, Virginia Siegfried

Graduate Theses

This study used a pretest-posttest design to examine the marital adjustment of 108 nontraditional graduate students as-compared with 42 adults in the general population. Participants' scores on the Dyadic Adjustment Scale showed no significant differences between the two groups, contrary to the study hypothesis. It was also hypothesized that the marital adjustment of graduate students would be better at the beginning of the semester term rather than at the end of the term, and that male graduate students would have a higher level of marital adjustment than female graduate students. Neither of these hypotheses were supported by the data. Overall, …

The Influence Of Workplace Stressors, Resources And Perceptions On Work-To-Family Spillover: An Application Of The Double Abcx Model, Steven A. Dennis

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Changes in the American workforce have raised concern over the interface between family and work. The responsibilities and frustrations of the work domain frequently spill over to the family domain and vice versa. The purpose of this research has been to investigate the influence of workplace stressors, resources, and perceptions on subsequent negative work-to-family spillover. The theoretical direction for the study stems from a modified application of McCubbin and Patterson's double ABCX model, which fits well into the larger spillover perspective.

The data for the study came from 1992 National Study of the Changing Workforce [NSCW). A subsample of respondents …

Maternal Responsivity To A Child With A Disability: A Comparison In Single- And Two-Parent Families, Kristin Bollwinkel

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this research was to examine the differences between mothers in single- and two-parent families as they interact with their child with a disability. The sample consisted of 240 children with developmental disabilities and their mothers. Maternal interaction behaviors were measured using the Maternal Behavior Rating Scale. Demographic information, child characteristic measures, and family functioning variables were also considered. Analyses of covariance indicated that there were no differences between interaction behaviors of mothers in single- and two-parent families. However, relationships between income, education, and family cohesion, and the types of interactions displayed between mother and child were found. …

Child Abuse In The Wake Of Natural Disasters, Thom Curtis

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Natural and technological disasters impact thousands of families in the United States each year. Catastrophic events leave homelessness, unemployment, injury, and death in their wake. The cost to society is usually measured in homes destroyed, jobs lost, casualties, and expected dollar expense of recovery. There are the social, psychological, and family consequences of catastrophic stressors. Anecdotal reports suggest that among these consequences is an increase in family violence, including child abuse. This dissertation tests the hypotheses that reported and confirmed child abuse increases in the wake of natural disasters.

Child Protective Services (CPS) records of several jurisdictions that have experienced …

Clinical Typologies Of Youthful Male Sex Offenders Derived From The Sex-Offender Characteristic Inventory-Male Version (Soci-M), Susan L. Ericksen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Sex-Offender Characteristic Inventory-Male Version (SOCI-M) was filled out by a national sample of 78 clinicians experienced in the treatment of youthful sex offenders. Using factor analysis, clinician perceptions of the biopsychosocial characteristics related to normal, conduct-disordered, and sex-offending youth were determined.

All of the variables in the categories considered in this study factored into at least three distinct normal, conduct-disordered, and sex-offender youthful factors, with sex-offender variables loading onto more than one sex-offender factor in some categories. The normal youth factors accounted for the greatest variability in the Learning Disabled, Tourette's Syndrome, Borderline Traits, Histrionic Traits, DSM III-R Diagnosis, …

Clark Memorandum: Spring 1995, J. Reuben Clark Law Society, J. Reuben Clark Law School

The Clark Memorandum

• The Church and the Common Good (Thomas Shaffer)
• Finding Family Harmony in a Dissonant World (Ann N. Madsen)
• Learning in the Light (Constance K. Lundberg)
• Temples (Truman Madsen)

Effects Of Witnessing Domestic Violence On Children, Theresa L. Bundy

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of domestic violence on children. The main questions explored were the effects of domestic violence on the self-perception and behavior of children. The children at a shelter for domestic violence completed the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children and the Self-Perception Profile for Children, depending on the child's age. The children also completed a questionnaire on their views of relationships and their future. The mothers of the children completed a standardized scale that paralleled the scale completed by the children, along with questionnaires on the …

The Prenatal Use Of Crack Cocaine: How It Affects Children And How Schools Can Respond, Michelle Kirkham

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Crack made its debut in the United States during the late 1980's. No one thought about the enormous impact that one illegal drug could have, but crack has dramatically increased the number of drug addictions in this country. Even more traumatic is that there are many children suffering today from the effects of the crack that their mothers used while pregnant. The oldest crack-exposed children are now approaching school-age. A concern for the educators of our country is that disagreements exist concerning what abilities these children do or do not possess and what can or can not be done for …

Review Of Parent Education Resources For Adults With Low English Proficiency, Elizabeth J. Sandell

Elementary and Literacy Education Department Publications

This paper reviews seven parent education resources for adults with low English proficiency, focusing on materials that are flexible and adaptable to parent education programs. Each review lists the name and publisher of the resource, date of publication, cost, intended audience, content, goals, format, and reviewer comments. The resources include: (1) "Nurturing Program for Parents and Young Children" (Family Development Resources), a remedial parenting skills program; (2) "Small Wonder" (American Guidance Service), which uses activity cards to explain child development; (3) "Child Care Picture Books" (Minnesota Early Learning Design), a series of six parenting skills picture books available in English …