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Changes In Oregon Batterer Intervention Program Characteristics In Relation To State Standards, Ashley Lynn Boal

Dissertations and Theses

The social problem of intimate partner violence affects approximately one-half to two million individuals each year in the United States (Catalano, 2007; Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000). Commonly the criminal justice system mandates completion of a group-based intervention intended to prevent violent behavior (Dalton, 2007). These groups are typically referred to as a batterer intervention program (BIP). Despite the popularity of this intervention approach, research findings examining the efficacy of these programs remain inconsistent (Babcock, Green & Robie, 2004). Nonetheless, 45 U.S. states including the District of Columbia, have implemented standards that aim to proscribe and regulate elements of program functioning. …

Parental Differential Treatment (Pdt) Of Siblings: Examining The Impact And Malleability Of Differential Warmth And Hostility On Children's Adjustment, Brianne H. Kothari

Dissertations and Theses

Parental differential treatment (PDT), the within-family differences in parenting experienced by siblings (Rivers & Stoneman, 2008), has been linked to detrimental adjustment outcomes for children (e.g., Conger & Conger, 1994). The primary goal of this research was to more closely examine how differential treatment in two domains of parent-child relations-displays of warmth and hostility- were associated with child outcomes. A secondary data analysis was conducted on a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) of a parent training intervention. Participants in this sample were high risk children and families, and they were randomly assigned to one of three groups: an intensive parent training …

Somatization And Engagement In Mental Health Treatment, Teresa Chianello

Dissertations and Theses

Somatization, the presentation of physical symptoms without an identifiable cause, is among the most common problems in primary medical care. Treatment approaches are typically offered within the medical consultation interview once the medical provider distinguishes between physical and emotional etiology. This dualistic strategy is especially troublesome for patients whose physical complaints cannot be validated and who are recommended for only mental health therapy. The aim of this study was to examine how medical practitioners can instead motivate patients to consider both physical and emotional treatment. An analogue intervention consisting of an enhanced consultation interview was compared to a care as …

Hardiness, Well-Being, And Health: A Meta-Analytic Summary Of Three Decades Of Research, Celina Marie Oliver

Dissertations and Theses

In recent decades, as scientific understanding regarding the effects of stress on health and well-being has grown, researchers have shown increasing interest in personal factors such as hardiness that may enhance one's ability to remain resilient under stressful conditions. Hardiness is a complex trait composed of three components (commitment, control, and challenge) that combine synergistically to increase stress tolerance. Over time, a large and complex body of research has accumulated, and while many qualitative reviews have been conducted, quantitative summaries remain rare. This study provides an empirical synthesis of research findings examining the relationships between hardiness and correlates related to …

Leadership And The Role Of Spirituality : A Qualitative Study Of University Presidents In U.S. Higher Education, Joan Margaret Neice

Dissertations and Theses

The intersection of leadership, identity and spirituality is explored in this qualitative study of university presidents in U.S. higher education. Based on the premise that without leadership from individuals, informed by their whole, integrated and authentic selves, the entire enterprise of higher education may suffer, this inquiry examined how presidents in higher education experience and enact their spirituality. The lives of six leaders of public and private, religious and nonreligious affiliated universities (small and large) are traced from early careers to current positions and what enabled or disabled the enactment of their spirituality as a dimension of their leadership. Conclusions …

Primary Care, Males, Masculinity, And Suicide : A Grounded Theory Study, John Thomas Casey

Dissertations and Theses

Suicide completion in the United States is a public health problem that claims over 30,000 lives annually. Most of these suicide victims are white males who die by firearm, and who typically are not taking antidepressant medication and are not involved in mental health treatment at the time of death. Depression is closely linked to suicide death, and treatment for depression is provided mainly within primary health care settings where most suicide decedents have been seen at some point in the year prior to their death. The rate of male depression is likely under-reported, partly due to gender-bias within primary …

Developing One's Self: Adoption And Identity Formation Through The Eyes Of Transracially Adopted Native American Adults, Jody Becker-Green

Dissertations and Theses

Life story methods were used to explore the contextual factors that influenced the experiences and identity formation of seven Native American adults who were transracially adopted prior to the passage of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978. These methods provided a deeper understanding of how these individuals have integrated their adoption experiences into their evolving sense of self. The life story methodology offered a way to acknowledge and validate participants' life experiences and allowed for the collection of rich information from the perspectives of the adoptees.

The life story interviews were structured to gather information on the influence of …

Dependent Care And Work-Life Outcomes : Comparing Exceptional Care And Typical Care Responsibilities, Lisa Maureen Stewart

Dissertations and Theses

Exceptional care responsibilities describe the experiences of caring for a dependent with a chronic illness or disability (Roundtree & Lynch, 2006). To date research on exceptional care responsibilities has occurred outside of the traditional work-life field. This study positions exceptional care responsibilities as a type of dependent care that goes beyond that of typical care responsibilities and argues efforts are needed both within the workplace and the community to address the challenges faced by employees with disability-related dependent care responsibilities.

The influence of supports within the workplace on the work-life barriers and related outcomes of employees with typical care and …

Factors Associated With Inclusion Of Spirituality In Secular Social Work Education, Leslie Grace Wuest

Dissertations and Theses

In a diverse society, social work practitioners must be able to work with and respect people from a wide variety of cultures and ethnicities and with different value systems and ideological perspectives, including spiritual or religious beliefs. Accordingly, social work education has begun to incorporate the topic of spirituality. This study builds upon previous studies by Dudley and Helfgott (1990) and Sheridan et al. (1994) which focused on views of faculty members regarding spirituality in social work education and support for a course on spirituality in the social work curriculum. This study goes on to examine inclusion of spirituality in …

The Child Care Self-Sufficiency Scale: Measuring Child Care Funding And Policy Generosity Across States, Karen Tvedt

Dissertations and Theses

Against the backdrop of welfare reform, this study examined the generosity of state child care programs with generosity being defined as the extent to which state funding and policies promote child care availability, affordability, and health and safety for low-income families. Despite variations in Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) implementation, no internally-consistent measure has existed that permits comparisons across the range of funding and policy indicators. This study addressed that gap by constructing a composite scale comprised of 12 indicators that were identified based on existing research and expert opinion to reflect key areas of state funding and policy …

Up A Creek : The Perilous Journey Of Recently Uninsured Low-Income Adults In Oregon, Heidi Allen

Dissertations and Theses

In the United States, having health insurance is considered to be the best guarantee of having access to timely and effective health care services. With millions of uninsured adults in the U.S., many states have moved beyond traditional Medicaid programs and expanded eligibility to low-income adults who are not otherwise eligible for public health insurance. While popular with the public, these programs are vulnerable when states face economic downturns. Even during times of financial stability, Medicaid expansion programs experience significant amounts of program 'churning', and in turn, low-income adults experience health insurance discontinuity. For this reason, it is important to …

Attributes Of Effective Head Start Mental Health Consultants : A Mixed Method Study Of Rural And Urban Programs, Mary Dallas Allen

Dissertations and Theses

Early childhood mental health consultation (ECMHC) is the primary strategy implemented by Head Start programs to address the social and emotional needs of children and their families, but little is known about the attributes of early childhood mental health consultants (MHCs) that contribute to consultants' relationships with Head Start staff and to consultation outcomes. The present study examined how attributes of MHCs contribute to positive relationships between the MHCs and Head Start staff and to improved consultation outcomes. Seven attributes of rural and urban mental health consultants were examined: MHC training, supervision, and support; MHC understanding of consultant role; MHC …

Children With Incarcerated Parents : A Longitudinal Study Of The Effect Of Parental Incarceration On Adolescent Externalizing Behaviors, Jean Mollenkamp Kjellstrand

Dissertations and Theses

Over the past two decades, the number of imprisoned adults in the United States has quadrupled. Mirroring this trend is the rapidly increasing population of children with incarcerated parents. The initial findings of research on the effects of parental incarceration on children are disturbing, indicating a vulnerable group of children at risk for poor outcomes. Yet, research on these children remains limited. Several studies have focused on the description of these children, yet few have analyzed the relationship between parental incarceration and child outcomes in conjunction with other risk and protective factors. Understanding these relationships is crucial to the development …

George Lakoff"S Theory Of Worldview : A Case Study Of The Oregon Legislature, Catherine Law

Dissertations and Theses

George Lakoff's theory of worldview presented in Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think (2002) has been a topic of interest and discussion in certain political and academic circles. To date, however, it appears that no empirical test of his theory exists. In this dissertation, Lakoff's theory of worldview is explored, using the Oregon Legislature as a case study. A survey instrument to test his theory was created and administered to members of the 2005-2006 Oregon House of Representatives. Cluster analysis and chi-square analysis were used in the data analysis to examine how well Lakoff's theory explains politics. It was …

Staying Within The Margins: The Educational Stories Of First-Generation, Low-Income College Students, Diane Lyn Cole

Dissertations and Theses

his research addressed educational persistence among first-generation, low-income college students. The educational paths of 22 first-generation, low-income undergraduate students attending a large, urban university in the Northwest region of the United States were examined through a narrative framework. Half of the participants had persisted from year one to year two, and the other half left the university after their first year. Analytic procedures consisted of thematic qualitative coding, an analysis of student trajectories over educational histories, and the reconstruction of narrative stories. Data were used to examine: (1) How first-generation, low-income students understood and described their journey through their first …

"Creative Interpretation And Fluidity In A Rights Framework": The Intersection Of Domestic Violence And Human Rights In The United States, Karen Lynn Morgaine

Dissertations and Theses

This study explores the manner in which leaders working in the domestic violence field in the US have or have not adopted a human rights framework and what impact this has had on domestic violence policy and intervention. Participants included leaders from national domestic violence and human rights organizations. These organizations are instrumental in developing policy and in framing the issues of domestic violence and human rights, many of which also work with specific racial and ethnic populations. Some of the primary research questions included: If the human rights discourse is being put to practical use within the US, how …

Food Security And Hunger Among Low Income Us Households: Relations To Federal Food Assistance Program Participation, Rebecca Elizabeth Sanders

Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation describes the conceptual and empirical framework that guides the definition of food insecurity and hunger, the present status of federal programmatic responses, and the status of current research on the topic. It also examines relations between hunger and federal food assistance program participation. Logistic regression is utilized to build two predictor models. Model 1 predicts federal food assistance program participation from household structure, income, community characteristics, and demographics. Model 2 predicts food insecurity/hunger from household structure, income, community characteristics, demographics, and federal food assistance program participation. Results are based on 2004 Current Population Survey data from low income …

Family-Friendly Workplace Culture, Flexibility, And Workplace Support For Dependent Care : The Perspectives Of Human Resource Professionals, Katherine June Huffstutter

Dissertations and Theses

Integration of family responsibilities and employment demands is challenging for all families, but particularly for those families with extraordinary care requirements of children with mental health disabilities. Utilization of workplace supports, such as flexible work arrangements, has been identified in the work-family literature as an important indicator of organizational responsiveness to employee's family needs (Allen, 2001; Eaton, 2003; Hammer, Neal, Newsom, Brockwood, & Colton, 2005; Secret, 2000). A better understanding of which organizational conditions may improve utilization of available family-friendly supports by employees caring for children with mental health disorders can improve work-life integration for these families. This study examines …

Family Participation : Exploring The Role It Plays In Outcomes For Youth With Serious Emotional Disorders, Jodi Lee Kerbs

Dissertations and Theses

The participation of families of children with emotional or behavioral disorders is increasingly seen as an essential component of children's mental health services. Although it is frequently discussed in the literature, family participation has not been a major focus of most research surrounding youth with serious emotional disorders (SED). This gap in research is particularly evident in the literature related to those youth who are also in the juvenile justice system. This study explored the concept of family participation in the context of services for youth with SED and examined the relationship between family participation in treatment planning and child …

Engaging Our Workforce: How Job Demands And Resources Contribute To Social Worker Burnout, Engagement And Intent To Leave, Sara Laura Schwartz

Dissertations and Theses

Social worker stress and burnout are pervasive problems that harm workers, organizations, and clients. Past research has identified burnout, a psychological response to work stress, as an important predictor of intent to leave and ultimate turnover. An emerging body of research has examined work engagement, considered to be the opposite of burnout, as a predictor of retention. The problem of burnout and turnover within organizations employing social workers has been addressed in the literature for many years. This dissertation responded to a call in the literature for a greater emphasis on burnout prevention and enhancement of workforce engagement and retention. …

Adolescent Mothers: Youth In Need Of Developmentally Appropriate Services, Patricia Arlyne Zimmerman

Dissertations and Theses

This research examines the childhood abuse and maltreatment experiences of adolescent mothers (age 14 to 17) to investigate if these experiences have hindered their socioemotional development and consequently, their parenting behaviors and attitudes. Data were gathered using four standardized self-report instruments: the Child Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC), the BarOn Emotional Quotient Inventory-Youth Version (EQi-YV), and the Adult Adolescent Parenting Inventory (AAPI-2). Two additional questionnaires were developed to gather demographic and social service information to add to the knowledge base of the field, and to examine what (if any) developmentally focused services young mothers may …

Social Workers Addressing Student-Perpetrated Interpersonal Violence In The School Context : Awareness And Use Of Evidence-Supported Programs, Natalie Diane Cawood

Dissertations and Theses

Researchers have argued that there is a research-practice gap in the delivery of prevention and mental health services in the school setting. An extension of the work of Astor and his colleagues (Astor et al., 1997, 1998, 2000), this study addresses that gap by examining the extent to which evidence-supported school violence intervention programs (ESP) are known and used by school social workers, and the barriers that are related to the use of ESPs.

A cross-sectional, web-based survey was completed by 250 members of the School Social Work Association of America, the majority having an MSW as their highest degree. …

Sons Providing Care At End-Of-Life: Common Threads And Nuances, Patricia Ebert

Dissertations and Theses

Family care is common in the majority of families in the United States, the primary care providers for older adult family members most often are wives, daughters or daughters-in-law. As the proportion of the oldest old continues to expand so too will the need for family careproviders. Recent demographic changes have served to deplete the pool of available caregivers. Caregiving research has naturally evolved into investigations into the experiences of women with little attention paid to the care contributions men make.

This investigation examined the perceptions of sons who served as primary caregivers for their dying elderly parents. It was …

Is It Just Me? Felt Hiv -Related Stigma Among Adults With Hiv, Rebecca Gila Block

Dissertations and Theses

HIV carries a significant social stigma in the United States based on the virus being contagious, incurable, visually apparent, and still somewhat mysterious to the public. People who are HIV positive, people who love them and people who work with them may all experience HIV-related stigma. The effects of HIV-related stigma vary from individual to individual; from community to community. The magnitude of feeling stigmatized and experiencing stigmatizing behaviors such as discrimination and exclusion also vary among individuals. Individuals experience stigma differently and respond to the experience in diverse ways.

The objective of this study was to explore felt HIV-related …

Applying The Transtheoretical Model To Cigarette Smoking By Pregnant And Parenting Adolescent Females, Barbara Mary Sussex

Dissertations and Theses

An unacceptably high number of pregnant and parenting adolescent females smoke cigarettes, and the majority who quit during pregnancy relapse within six months postpartum. This dissertation examined measures from the Transtheoretical Model of Change (TMC) and variables associated with smoking behavior in a population of pregnant and parenting females 18 years-of-age and under. Data were from the baseline survey of 245 young women enrolled in a three-year randomized controlled trial through a teen parent program in Portland, Oregon. The objectives were: 1) to investigate whether factors identified in the literature as associated with initiating and quitting smoking were associated with …

Women Adrift, Sporting Girls And The Unfortunate Poor: A Gendered History Of Homelessness In Portland 1900-1929, Leanne Claire Serbulo

Dissertations and Theses

This purpose of this study is to incorporate women into the history of homelessness. Women's experience is missing from the narrative of industrial era homelessness, which causes researchers to make a distinction between the modem day homeless population and its predecessors. This distinction prevents researchers from examining the long term structural causes of homelessness and analyzing the role homelessness plays in U.S. society. This study explores the population characteristics and living conditions of three groups of women who were considered homeless during the early decades of the twentieth century in Portland. These groups include single working women who lived away …

Identifying And Building On Strengths Of Children With Serious Emotional Disturbances, Michael Orval Taylor

Dissertations and Theses

The aim of this study is to explore strengths assessments and the participation of parents in assessment of strengths and functioning of their children challenged by serious emotional disorders. The children in this study have a high level of exposure to mental illness, domestic violence and substance abuse in their biological families. These children are living with family members or foster families in the community, with the majority at continuing risk of placement outside of their homes and communities due to serious emotional and behavioral problems.

The research questions investigated are the concordance of families and professionals in assessment of …

A Dissertation On African American Male Youth Violence: "Trying To Kill The Part Of You That Isn’T Loved", Joy Degruy Leary

Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation is based on Sociocultural Theory, Social Learning Theory and Trauma Theory, as well as a new theoretical framework (Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome) which takes into account multigenerational trauma. Five research questions involving independent variables believed to predict violent behavior in African American male youth were investigated. The first three questions addressed stressors experienced by African Americans: violence witnessing, violence victimization, and daily urban hassles. The fourth and fifth questions concerned the sociocultural characteristics of racial socialization and prosocial attitudes toward respect. Participants were 200 African American male youth residing in inner Northeast Portland, Oregon who were recruited from …

The Assessment Of Children With Attachment Disorder: The Randolph Attachment Disorder Questionnaire, The Behavioral And Emotional Rating Scale, And The Biopsychosocial Attachment Types Framework, Alice Myrth Ogilvie

Dissertations and Theses

Children with attachment disorder (AD) have an ongoing risk of mental health challenges and an exacerbated resistance to traditional treatments. The inability to trust and inadequate relationship skills present a substantial challenge for supervising adults in families, child welfare, juvenile justice, public schools, and other community settings.

This study examined the assessment of AD in children between ages 6 and 18 utilizing two standardized instruments, the Randolph Attachment Disorder Questionnaire and the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale. A new framework developed by the author, Biopsychosocial Attachment Types (BAT), for conceptualizing childhood attachment concerns, was explored as a foundation for assessment …

The Value Of Independence In Old Age, Paula C. Carder

Dissertations and Theses

Why is independence a central theme for proponents of assisted living facilities? How do assisted living providers respond to this theme? These questions are pursued in an ethnographic study centered on Oregon's assisted living program. Assisted living facilities (ALF), defined and monitored by Oregon's Senior and Disabled Services Division (SDSD), are a type of housing for disabled, primarily elderly, persons. Oregon Administrative Rules (OAR-411-56) define independence, requiring ALF providers to support resident independence.

Using social worlds theory as a sensitizing concept, assisted living is treated as a distinct social world. The activities of key groups, including SDSD staff, an ALF …