Digital Commons Network^™

Stretched Too Thin: Low-Income Mothers' Work-Family Conflict And Preschoolers' Socioemotional Adjustment, Kelly Haas

Master's Theses

The purpose of the current study was to further our understanding of the association between low-income mothers' work-family conflict and their children's socioemotional adjustment, with a particular focus on externalizing and internalizing symptoms. To do so, the present study tested the mediating roles of mothers' psychological distress and positive parenting practices in the relation between work-family conflict and children's adjustment over time. Contrary to hypotheses, the linkage between low-income mothers' experience of conflict between their work and family roles and preschoolers' adjustment was not explained by mothers' symptoms of psychological distress or their use of positive parenting practices. Similarly, the …

Effects Of Discrete Positive Emotions On Attitude Change, Jennifer Lee Smith

Master's Theses

This study examines the influence of discrete incidental positive emotions (joy and contentment) on participants' attitudes and cognitive responses. Prior persuasion research has focused almost exclusively on negative emotions or comparisons between positive and negative moods. A 2 (argument strength: weak or strong) x 3 (emotional state: joy, contentment, or neutral) between-participants factorial design was used in this study. Participants (N = 460) were randomly assigned to one of six experimental conditions. Analyses revealed consistent argument strength effects on attitudes and cognitive responses. Compared to the joy and neutral conditions, participants in the contentment condition tended to generate fewer positive …

Towards Evidence-Based Practices In Mathematics Instruction: Investigating The Impact Of Writing On Student Ability To Solve Mathematics Problems, Shaalein Carroll Lopez

Dissertations

Achievement in mathematics education for students in elementary school through college has lagged behind that of other students internationally. As a result, enhancing mathematics achievement for students in the United States of America has long been a priority. Best practices in teaching across all grades emphasize using instructional methods that have been validated through research, though a review of the literature demonstrates a lack of such substantiated practices in mathematics education. This dissertation attempts to contribute to the field of research-based practices in mathematics education by measuring the effects of an instructional practice long used in mathematics classrooms in grades …

Towards A New Measure Of Playfulness: The Capacity To Fully And Freely Engage In Play, Rebecca Cornelli Sanderson

Dissertations

The current study involved the development and validation of a new measure of playfulness, the Project Joy Playfulness Scale (PJPS). The PJPS was designed specifically as a brief teacher-report measure for use in the preschool classroom. Playfulness was hypothesized to include four dimensions: Active Engagement, Internal Control, Joyfulness, and Social Connection. Blending academic knowledge with on-the-ground clinical experience, the measure was collaboratively developed and then tested in two separate phases of data collection.

In the first phase of the study, two hundred and twenty-two preschool students aged three to five were rated by two classroom teachers on the alpha version …

The Challenges Of Complex Trauma And The Promise Of Supporting Strengths, Katherine Tyson Mccrea

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

Domestic Violence Or Elder Abuse? Why It Matters For Older Women, Teresa Kilbane, Marcia K. Spira

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

Law enforcement and legal services are 2 systems that respond to reports of abuse against women through programs such as adult protective services (APS) and domestic violence (DV). APS and DV systems operate independently and define the cause of the abuse differently. The designation of a woman as having suffered domestic violence or having been abused often depends on which system she enters. This designation can lead to different options for women to obtain services. Aging may further complicate access and usability of these systems to respond to the needs of abused elderly. Using vignettes, this article explores the definitions …

Youth In Substitute Care Presenting With Sexual Behavior Problems, Christopher Zaddach

Master's Theses

The purpose of the current study is to investigate the traumatic history of youths in the foster care system presenting with sexual behavior problems. Moreover, co-occurring trauma symptoms will be investigated as possibly contributing to the severity of sexual behavior problems in this population. The present study has four primary goals: (1) This study will focus on identifying traumatic experiences that are associated with sexual behavior problems in children and adolescents in the child welfare system; (2) Co- occuring levels of trauma symptoms including posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTS) and sexual concerns (SC; Briere, 1996) will be tested as possible moderators …

The Practice And Meaning Of Communitarian Spirituality In The Focolare Movement, Nori Henk

Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to explore how individuals come to embrace the FM spirituality as radical, making the spiritually meaningful and plausible for social change through a communitarian lifestyle that affects their everyday life. Within the sociological tradition of studying religion and social movements, this study addresses how religiously-motivated, "non-elite" individuals can be collectively recruited and mobilized into life-long agents of change. My study is based on seventy-five interviews and fieldwork at three sites in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.

In the dissertation, I addressed the following research questions: 1. If a member is defined as one …

Perceptions Of Care: Self Reflections Of Women Teachers Of African Descent Who Teach In Urban Settings, Elizabeth A. Abioro

Dissertations

Discussions and debates about the educational system in the United States continue to center on curriculum and school reform. However, many children in America's public schools suffer from existing "life hazards" including social isolation, poverty, neglect, drug abuse, violence, school failure, and the breakdown of traditional family values and nurturing. This qualitative study focused on 10 African American female teachers and their perceptions of caring in the classroom and themselves as caring teachers. It is important to collect and share the experiences of African American females and how they define and practice care in their classrooms. Understanding teachers' perceptions of …

Examining Racial Ethnic Socialization, Ethnic Identity Development, And Their Psychological Correlates In A Sample Of Ethnically Diverse Youth, Denada Hoxha

Dissertations

Research on racial ethnic socialization experiences among ethnically diverse youth from their perspective is limited. Additionally, little is known about the relationship between specific racial ethnic socialization messages and positive youth outcomes such as subjective well-being. This study sought to examine the prevalence of specific types of racial ethnic socialization messages in a group of ethnically diverse high school students. The study also examined the role of preparation for bias and cultural socialization messages on youth's ethnic identity development and private group esteem. The study also examined the mediating role of ethnic identity and self-esteem in the relationship between racial …

Uncovering Medical And Mental Health Professionals' Decision-Making In The Treatment Of Trans-Variant Patients, Jodie M. Dewey

Dissertations

This project is a study of medical and mental health professionals who treat trans-variant patients. Using in-depth interviews, I show how providers describe the process by which they make decisions with patients who desire, through formal means, to hormonally and/or surgically transition from one gender to the other. This work uncovers the ways professionals make decisions in the absence or limitation of formal knowledge while simulaneously attemping to ground their work in this same knoweldge to obtain respect and legitimacy. Professionals must also acknowledge that they relinquesh some power to patients to make decisions which involve high risk for them. …

The Role Of The Principal In The Professional Life Of Male Elementary Classroom Teachers, Brian Gendron Ricca

Dissertations

There are very few men that choose to enter the profession of teaching, especially at the elementary level (U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, 2008). The men that do make this choice are faced with certain challenges and societal stereotypes that make this career path even more difficult to navigate. Given the small numbers that exist and some of the unique factors that face men at this level, the relationship between a male elementary classroom teacher and his building administrator is one to examine.

Within the context of the research that has been done on the gendered role of elementary …

Depressive Symptoms In Women Being Screened For Cardiovascular Disease Risk, Suzanne Marie Savoy

Dissertations

Background: Depressive symptomology is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Over 15% of persons with cardiovascular disease have depressive symptoms, and women are twice as likely to experience these symptoms as men. Depressive symptoms in women “ at risk ” for cardiovascular disease has not been well studied.

Purpose: This study investigated the relationship between depressive symptoms, health-promoting lifestyle behaviors, heart disease risk awareness, cardiac risk, and quality of life in women at risk for cardiovascular disease. Whether the effect of depressive symptoms on quality of life was mediated by cardiac risk and/or health-promoting lifestyle behaviors was also examined. …

Unto Perfect Manhood: An Instrumental Case Study Of Leadership Formation In An African American Boys High School, Daniel Ivan Mackinney

Dissertations

This qualitative study investigates the influence of single-sex education on leadership formation at an all boys, urban Catholic high school where a majority of the students come from disadvantaged backgrounds. The researcher has found an association between graduation from a single-sex school and leadership attainment. In order to understand what it is about a single-sex education that might nurture leadership development the author completed an instrumental case study of the school seeking to identify those elements that might nurture leadership formation.

The theoretical framework for this study is based on the research of Wolf-Wendel (1998) who relies on institutional characteristics …

Trauma, Dissociation, And Traumatic Stress At A Trauma Center Serving Low-Income Children And Adolescents, Krista Kohl

Dissertations

Exposure to trauma continues to be a pervasive and detrimental experience in the lives of children and adolescents in impoverished, urban communities. This study explored the relationships among trauma, dissociation, and posttraumatic stress in a clinic-referred sample of children and adolescents living in urban poverty. Trauma was investigated broadly, including a range of traumatic experiences, with particular attention given to different types, chronicity, multiple exposures, and severity of trauma. Dissociation was investigated as a mediator, or mechanism of the relationships among trauma and posttraumatic stress symptoms, internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Moderators included gender, age, and adverse experiences. Results confirmed that …

Proactive Disciplinary Consequences In Three Illinois High Schools, Sara Golomb

Dissertations

Disciplinary codes of conduct guide administrators when determining the consequences for student misconduct. The codes of conduct commonly found in schools rely on exclusionary measures that have been associated with negative student outcomes and controversy but little is being done to provide positive model for these written policies. Schools need to reconsider their disciplinary practices and begin to incorporate positive strategies into their policies. The goal of this study was to provide an examination of the factors necessary to sustain a positive approach to discipline. Unfortunately, the preliminary information was insufficient. Suggestions are made to continue the exploration of philosophies …

Radicis: Ideology, Argument, And Composition Courses In American Colleges, Donovan Sean Braud

Dissertations

The development of "composition" out of larger rhetorical studies in American

colleges and universities has narrowed the scope of rhetorical training our students

receive, most notably excluding the political and social dimensions of persuasion. This

dissertation is an attempt to recover the larger political and civic scope that was the

original focus of rhetoric. I join a growing chorus of voices seeking to bring classroom

practice to bear on the larger social and civic lives of our students. My approach is

original in that it blends classical rhetoric with contemporary ideological theory to derive

a pedagogy that will allow students …

The Development Of And Relationship Between Elgin U-46'S Teacher Appraisal System And Mentor Program: 1998-2010, Joseph William Schumacher

Dissertations

This study investigated the historical development of Elgin School District U-46's teacher appraisal system and teacher mentor program during the years of 1998-2010. In 1998 a formal mentor program was implemented for the first time in district history. Shortly thereafter, district and union leadership agreed to revamp the twenty-five-year-old appraisal system. The study aimed to explore how district and union leadership prepared for, adopted, and implemented appraisal and mentoring during this time period through the framework of Thomas Sergiovanni's (1992) sources of authority for leadership.

The research questions of this study focused on five topics: the historical development of the …

The Impact Of Intrusive Advising On Academic Self Efficacy Beliefs In First-Year Students In Higher Education, Lauren Kemner Miller

Dissertations

First-year retention rates have seen minimal gains as high numbers of first-year students are leaving college due to insufficient academic skills and inability to adjust to the academic and social life of college. Programs that provide strategies to improve the transition from high school to college and that help develop skills to facilitate academic success are needed. This study presents a mixed method approach to examine intrusive academic advising and the impact of this program on first-year students enrolled at a four-year, private institution. Semi-structured interviews and the College Self Efficacy Inventory were utilized to gather the data.

First-year students …

Psychosocial Development, Well-Being, And Internalizing Symptoms During Emerging Adulthood: An Examination Of Mediating And Moderating Factors, Jennifer Paley Edidin

Dissertations

The current study was the second part of a longitudinal study, which sought to explore psychosocial development in an older population of emerging adults. Specifically, it examined cross-sectional and longitudinal relations between psychosocial development and internalizing symptoms, as well as between psychosocial development and well-being. Possible mediating and moderating factors were also considered. Two hundred and twelve eligible individuals from one private Midwestern University and one small private college on the East Coast, who completed measures as college seniors, were invited to participate in the second wave of the study, approximately 1½ years after graduation. Participants were asked to complete …

In Whose Best Interest? Using An Experimental Vignette To Assess Factors Influencing Placement Decisions In Child Welfare, Jeff Sieracki

Dissertations

Building on prior research that utilizes clinical vignettes to analyze child welfare placement decisions (Briar, 1963; Britner & Mossler, 2002; Donnelly, 1980; Drury-Hudson, 1999; Gold, et al., 2001; Taylor, 2006), the present study employs an experimental format to assess the relative importance that social workers place on variables related to placement decisions, and to study any differences regarding decision making that may emerge amongst the child welfare professionals themselves. The study consists of a single hypothetical vignette that will be sent to social workers in the state of Illinois. Prior to administration of the questionnaire, multiple experts in the field …

Communication And Essentialism: Grounding The Shared Reality Of A Social Category, Yoshihisa Kashima, Emiko S. Kashima, Paul Bain, Anthony Lyons, R Scott Tindale, Gary Robins, Cedric Vears, Jennifer Whelan

Psychology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Essentialism is an ontological belief that there exists an underlying essence to a category. This article advances and tests in three studies the hypothesis that communication about a social category, and expected or actual mutual validation, promotes essentialism about a social category. In Study 1, people who wrote communications about a social category to their ingroup audiences essentialized it more strongly than those who simply memorized about it. In Study 2, communicators whose messages about a novel social category were more elaborately discussed with a confederate showed a stronger tendency to essentialize it. In Study 3, communicators who elaborately talked …

Joyous Struggle, Fred B. Bryant

Psychology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

Hippocampal And Anterior Cingulate Cortex Volumes In Amnestic And Non-Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment, Elizabeth R. Tuminello

Master's Theses

Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is a syndrome thought to fall between cognitively normal aging and dementia. Although much research has investigated the structural neuroimaging correlates of amnestic MCI, little research has been done on the imaging correlates of non-amnestic MCI. Even less research has examined the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a region important in executive functions (EFs), in these patients. This study attempted to address this gap by examining hippocampal and ACC volumes among amnestic and non-amnestic MCI patients and cognitively normal controls. Those with amnestic MCI were expected to have smaller hippocampal volumes than controls and those with non-amnestic …

The Stigmatization Of Mental Illness And Drug Addiction Among The Criminally Involved, Brenda Arsenault

Master's Theses

This study examined the perceived stigma of mental illness compared to drug addiction among a sample of criminally involved persons who receive probation services through the Cook County Adult Probation Department. The first section of the study surveyed current probation clients using a modification of the PSAS scale by Luoma, Rye, Kohlenberg, Hayes, Fletcher & Pratte (2010), and assessed levels of stigma consciousness with a modified version of the SCQ (Pinel, 1999). Three groups of participants were surveyed for their perceptions of stigma and stigma consciousness. The first group consisted of drug probation case management clients with no known mental …

Toward True Integration Of Response To Intervention Systems In Academic And Behavior Support: Part 1: Tier 1 Support., Kent Mcintosh, Steve Goodman, Hank Bohanon

Education: School of Education Faculty Publications and Other Works

Part 1 of a series involving the integration of academic and behavior support.

Toward True Integration Of Response To Intervention Systems In Academic And Behavior Support: Part Three: Tier 3 Support, Kent Mcintosh, Hank Bohanon, Steve Goodman

Education: School of Education Faculty Publications and Other Works

Part 3 of a series involving the integration of academic and behavior support.

In The Margins: Thresholds Of Text And Identity In U.S.-Mexico Border Literature, Allison E. Fagan

Dissertations

My project links discussions of U.S.-Mexico border literature's emphasis on marginalized identity with the growing textual studies interest in the marginal, often-invisible processes which aid the production and shape the reception of books. The dissertation not only calls attention to textual instability, or the places where the differing and even opposing intentions of authors, publishers, and editors often become strikingly clear, but also focuses on the political, racial, ethnic, and social instabilities inherent in publishing the work of borderlands writers. It advocates and advances a sustained attentiveness to the conditions under which border literature can and does get produced. Authors …

Uncommon Sense In Renaissance English Literature, Eric Byville

Dissertations

My project explores the distinctive union of Senecan tragedy and Elizabethan satire in Renaissance English drama, particularly the works of John Marston and William Shakespeare. Unlike Ben Jonson, who incorporated both Senecan tragedy and Elizabethan satire in his drama but did so in different plays (Catiline, Every Man Out), Marston and Shakespeare combined the two traditions in one and the same play, such as the former's Antonio's Revenge (1600) and The Malcontent (c. 1603) and the latter's Troilus and Cressida (1601) and Timon of Athens (c. 1606). They recognized and exploited a deep compatibility between the two traditions, a compatibility …

Your Change Is Still Behind: Futurity In Early Modern Literature, Tripthi Pillai

Dissertations

A study of Renaissance literature's engagement with temporality, my project is a critical evaluation of the concept of early modern futurity, of which I propose three categories: "Material futurity"; "Biological futurity"; and "Political futurity." In the moments that I identify in texts composed during the Tudor and early Stuart reigns in England, I demonstrate that the future--as an idea--structures individuals' actions and ruptures social formations. Futurity, which I define as a play of multiple desires that exist simultaneously within our present beings, is a volatile agent of imagination in early modern literature. Futurity collides with the cultural sites of memory …