Digital Commons Network^™

Population Dynamics Of Nonmetropolitan Cities In Five Western States, Peter Carlton Munroe

Dissertations and Theses

Contrary to popular belief, small cities, located outside Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas (SMSA's) and generally referred to as nonmetropolitan cities, have not been declining in population and withering away; rather, they have been growing and prospering in all regions of the country, albeit their growth varies considerably.

It is this variation in growth rates of nonmetropolitan places in the northwest (and the factors associated with this variation) which is the focus of this thesis. Research literature in this area indicates a reciprocal relationship between the nature of economic activities in nonmetropolitan cities and their growth patterns. In an attempt to …

A Construct Validity Study For The Women Workers Scale Questionnaire, Gwen Simpson

Dissertations and Theses

This study attempted to obtain evidence on the construct validity of the Women Workers Scale (WWS), an attitude scale developed to measure male supervisors' attitudes toward women workers. As women enter the work world in increasing numbers, they are usually supervised by men. However, few studies have examined the attitudes of male supervisors toward women workers. At least one author (Bass, 1972) reported that there were significant differences among male managers in their attitudes toward women. Specifically, those male managers who had not worked with women held more favorable attitudes than male managers who had worked with women.

An Exploratory Analysis Of The Response Of Urban Police To Labor Radicalism, Dennis Earl Hoffman

Dissertations and Theses

Social scientists examining the police role have typically assumed that the individual police officer or department is relatively free to implement social policy as he/she or it sees fit. This assumption is reflected in many police studies which stress the importance of police chiefs, police discretion, and police personalities as being the decisive factors in police behavior.

A more tenable approach to studying the police would be to examine police behavior in terms of the place of the police in class conflict. This approach would focus mainly on how conditions outside of police organizations have shaped police response.

To date …

Institutional Economics And Urban Political Economy, Forrest Clinton Blodgett

Dissertations and Theses

The emergence of a complex and highly urbanized industrial society has inspired great study of urbanization and urban phenomena by social scientists. Unfortunately, most social scientists study urbanology within the relatively narrow confines of their particular disciplines. Sociologists concentrate on urban phenomena arising out of human-group relationships, while political scientists concentrate on units of urban government and intergovernmental relations. Likewise, economists study urbanology from a market perspective while geographers tend to concentrate on urban location theory and historians are concerned about the history of urbanization. Moreover, urban planners and research specialists are principally practitioners who receive and attempt to apply …

The Idea Of Progress: Its Rise To Power And Prominence, Robert Ray Schmaling

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this thesis was to come to understand the fundamental character of the idea of progress by studying the manner in which the idea emerged. This study, however, embodied more than simply those ideas that comprised its nature. The sociology of knowledge approach emphasizes the importance of understanding that the development of ideas can be strongly affected by the social structure. Taking such an approach into consideration in the task of understanding the fundamental character of the idea of progress, it was necessary to also attend to the influences of the social structure as well as the ideational …

A Cost Analysis And Recidivism Study Of A Pre-Trial Diversion Program, Ruth E. Green

Dissertations and Theses

This research project is a report of cost findings and rearrest rates from a program evaluation of a pre-trial diversion program. In 1978 Cascade Research Center (CRC) contracted with Clark County, Washington, to determine the cost-effectiveness and cost-efficiency of the Pre-Habilitation agency, which implements the Prosecuting Attorney's Pre-Trial Diversion Program.

An Investigation Of The Relationship Of Organizational Structure To Job Satisfaction Within Social Service Organizations Serving Elderly Clients, Anne Marguerite Wilkinson

Dissertations and Theses

This study investigated the relationships between organizational structure of client serving organizations and the job satisfaction of the members. The exploration of these relationships was conducted using a three dimension model of job satisfaction and seven dimensions of organizational structure. Data was gathered using interview and survey research techniques from 428 service providers within 42 social service agencies serving elderly clients.

The Interruption Of The Developmental Tasks Through Pregnancy In The Female Adolescent, Suzanne Epstein, Kathleen Perkins

Dissertations and Theses

There is much information about the incidence of adolescent pregnancy yet little attention has been directed to how this process will interrupt the working towards or completion of the developmental tasks of adolescence. It is our belief that completion of these tasks is crucial in relation to moving into the next stage, adulthood.

Public interest and concern for the contemporary needs of pregnant adolescents and school age parents as a special group is still fairly novel. Survey findings revealed that adolescent parents still have great need for infant day care services, direct financial assistance, housing arrangements, education, and parenting education. …

An Investigation Of Sexuality And Life Satisfaction Of Institutionalized Aged, Karla M. Baur

Dissertations and Theses

One concern of this study is sexuality among the aged, since every person, regardless of age, is a sexual being. Society, however, has been slow to recognize this fact and has not accepted sexual activity among the aged. Along with the lack of social sanctioning, elderly persons are very susceptible to the myriad of myths, half-truths, misinformation, and incomplete data which affect their attitudes toward sexuality. Furthermore, older persons are susceptible to negative stereotypes of themselves as sexual beings. However, the effect of actual sexual activity upon overall life satisfaction among the aged has yet to be determined. Because there …

Self-Concepts Of Institutionalized And Community Residing Elderly, Diana L. White

Dissertations and Theses

This study explores the nature of the self-concept in old age. Specifically, the relationship between the self-concept and social relationships and self-concept and living situation (residence in a long term care or residence in one’s own home) are examined. The self-concept was measured by the Tennessee Self Concept Scale (TSCS) developed by William Fitts in 1965. Data was collected at two stages (over a two to three year period) from a study sample which consisted of twelve individuals who became institutionalized and twelve individuals who remained in their own homes.

Both quantitative and qualitative data analysis methods were used. Analysis …

A Study Of Psoriasis : A Methodological Critique, Prudence Craig Ford, Roberta Jeanne Ford, Susan Swanson

Dissertations and Theses

According to the National Psoriasis Foundation (1976), psoriasis is a little known and poorly understood skin disease afflicting an estimated eight million victims in the United States. About fifteen thousand new cases of psoriasis are diagnosed each year. It affects men and women in equal numbers at any age, most often between the ages of fifteen and thirty-five.

The Effect Of Administrative Mandate On Social Workers' Clinical Decision Making, Richard Arthur Anderson

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study is to explore the extent to which Social Workers' clinical judgement is altered by administrative needs in a population of Veterans Administration social workers.

The importance of this study to research is to find out whether administrative mandates do, in fact, influence social workers' clinical judgement, hence altering treatment to some significant degree. Administrators will be interested in seeing whether there is acceptance or resistance to their directives and what factors are involved in this dimension.

The First Years Of Life: A Comparative Analysis Of British And American Parent Education, Deborah Anne Smith Guisti, Ellen Turner Jurevic, Jane Elizabeth Mozena, David W. Pedersen

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of our study is to analyze a British parent education program called "The First Years of Life" and compare it with some programs and educational services of similar content in America. We hope to ascertain whether "The First Years of Life," as presented by the Open University, affords a better means of providing information than some programs now existent in the United States offering prenatal and parent education.

A Tale Of Two Cities: Public Housing And Municipal Revenue Policymaking In San Jose, Costa Rica And San Salvador, El Salvador, Paul Barrett Macdougall

Dissertations and Theses

The scholarly tradition in urban policy analysis holds that a variety of economic, social and political background factors influence the nature and amount of output by the policymaking system. Here a number of these factors such as elections and parties, structure of the national economy and age and sex composition of the population are examined to determine their effect on public housing and local government revenue policy in two Central American urban centers. San Jose, Costa Rica and San Salvador, El Salvador were chosen for the study because they are in the same size range, both are capital (and primate) …

Long-Term Effects Of Rape: A Literature Review And Exploratory Questionnaire, Kathleen June Elsner

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this practicum is to give impetus to the exploration and delineation of long-range effects of a rape experience. This will be accomplished in the following manner: (1) a literature review to (a) review what reactions are known; (b) discuss which response patterns to the crisis may exist; and (c) which issues rape victims express as being difficult or of concern in their adjustment. The literature review will be in Chapter II. (2) Designing a research instrument or questionnaire that can be administered to victims at least one year after the rape. The purpose of the questionnaire is …

Job Seeking Patterns Of Vocational Rehabilitation Clients, Sandra Marie Schneider

Dissertations and Theses

Two hundred and seventy-three clients whose cases had been closed by the Oregon Vocational Rehabilitation Division (OVRD) between March 1, 1976 and February 28, 1977 were interviewed by telephone. They were asked to identify the different methods they had used during their job search, whether they had obtained a job while being served by OVRD, whether they were presently employed, and if employed whether the job was the same or different from the one they had obtained while being served by OVRD. They were also asked to identify the sources of the lead which led to their jobs. Friends or …

Attitudes Of Income Maintenance Line Workers In The State Of Oregon About The Causes And Amelioration Of Poverty, Gene Lamar Stutzman

Dissertations and Theses

It has been of some interest to the profession of social work that eligible persons underutilize or fail to use social services and benefits to which they are legally entitled. A number of different reasons have been cited in the social work literature and otherwise generally accepted within the ranks of the social work profession as possible or probable causes of underutilization or lack of use. The variety of reasons includes client lack of knowledge about programs, lack of motivation on the part of eligible clients to apply for benefits and services, client unawareness about legal recourse in securing services, …

The Development Of A Grassroots Citizen Action Organization, Mary Runge

Dissertations and Theses

The primary purpose of this study is to develop a model community organizing plan for persons wishing to establish a grassroots citizen action organization. Existential in nature, this model will be geared toward easy and practical application, i.e. a "cookbook" approach to the process of organizing a citizen action organization. A secondary purpose of this study is to provide students and beginning community organizers with a basic theoretical and historical orientation by which to understand the field of community organization.

A Comparison Between A Clinical Sample Of Parents And Non-Parents, As Reflected By Their Scores On The Mmpi, Thomas Kearney, Casey Wegner

Dissertations and Theses

The area of childlessness, particularly voluntary childlessness, has been virtually ignored by most researchers. Pohlman claims to have been unable to find research which supports the popular idea that intentionally childless husbands and wives tend to be emotionally disturbed. However, he does note that he was able to find numerous statements from medical and social science publications which in various ways imply that the deliberately childless are usually maladjusted.

Paraprofessionals In Oregon: An Exploratory Study Of The Status Of Associate Degree Human Service Workers, Richard William Hunter

Dissertations and Theses

The concern in human services as to how to provide skilled manpower of sufficient training and in sufficient numbers to meet public demand has been a source of experimentation and controversy over the past decade. In recent years the rapid growth of social and mental health services has provided a multitude of programs and services for both the poor and non-poor. Traditional services of social welfare -- health care, education, housing and employment -- have been increasingly supplemented by new forms of services (e.g., community organization, youth work, recreation, and personal growth therapy), thus vastly expanding the numbers of actual …

Social Control Theory And Delinquency, Michael David Wiatrowski

Dissertations and Theses

The concept of social control has been used in sociology since the foundations of the discipline were laid almost a hundred years ago. At the turn of the century social control developed two distinct orientations. The concept has referred to the process of socialization or how individual behavior is regulated in primary group relations, and alternatively, to how the large macrosocial institutions such as education, religion, law and the political system maintain order in society.

Early research in social control focused on the development of inventories of societal means of social control. Changing standards of science, however, forced an abandonment …

Organizational Decision Making And Participation In An Interorganizational Service Network, Vinod Valji Chohan

Dissertations and Theses

This study attempts to identify the variables associated with an organization's decision to participate in an interorganizational service network. The survev of literature on the subject supported the hypothesis that structural variables of complexity, formalization, and centralization and a psychological variable, the awareness of organizational interdependency, are associated with the decision to participate. Interorganizational participation was operationally defined in terms of various behavioral components: an organization's involvement with the coordinating agency, client referrals to and from other organizations and to and from the coordinating agency, and information exchanged with other organizations and with the coordinating agency. Using this framework, testable …

A Study To Determine If Service Workers Want Additional Training Regarding Black Issues, Patricia Dickerson, Diane S. Whalen

Dissertations and Theses

The study is based upon five research questions which seek to determine service workers’ perceptions of black life experiences, the causes of black clients’ problems, and possible ways to alleviate these problems. Service workers are asked if present modes of intervention are effective in working with black clients. They are further asked if training regarding black issues would help facilitate their working with black clients, and if so, what areas of training would be most useful.

The researchers could have chosen any from among several client groups for this project. It was decided to limit the study to one group, …

A Validation Study Of The Family Environment Scale: Family Incongruence Score, Linda Joanne Neale

Dissertations and Theses

This study investigated the validity of the family incongruence score, a statistic which quantifies the discrepancies between family members' perceptions of their family system using answers given on the Family Environment Scale. Based on findings concerning incongruence in other environments, it was hypothesized that high family incongruence scores would be associated with more problems in the family system.

Political Activities Of Professional Social Workers Residing In Portland, Oregon, Connie May Henes

Dissertations and Theses

In order to assess political activity levels of Portland social workers, thirty Master of Social Work (M.S.W.) social workers were interviewed according to a structured questionnaire. The members of the sample were selected from National Association of Social Workers, Oregon Chapter membership and from selected public social service agencies.

The results showed, in comparison to previous research findings of Lester Milbrath and Julian Woodward, that Portland social workers are more politically active and knowledgeable than hypothesized. Portland social workers were found to be largely Democrats. The most politically active social workers were found to be those who are employed in …

Indications Of Feminist Influence On Contemporary Social Work Practice, Clara Elizabeth Miller

Dissertations and Theses

It is criticism of traditional theory and methods, and the advocacy of new approaches that feminists have tried to present to social workers and to other professionals in mental health and other social services. The feminist goal has been to convince social workers and others to modify their beliefs and practice in order to be more helpful (as the feminists believe) to women. In this study of the beliefs and practice of social workers in Oregon, I attempt to find out to what extent, ten years after the "rebirth of feminism," they have adopted feminist beliefs and recommendations for practice.

The Relationship Between Social Isolation And Child Abuse: A Critical Literature Review, Ann A. Pederson

Dissertations and Theses

This review began with an interest in treatment of child abuse and in how a study of social isolation might lend direction to treatment of abusing families. The literature leads one to believe that social isolation is somehow involved, but that the process is far from clear. The intent of this review is to synthesize the findings available on the relationship between social isolation and child abuse, to encourage further thought on how the concept of social isolation can be refined and operationalized, and to discuss the implications of that relationship for treatment and prevention of physical abuse. The information …

A Study Of Partner Attitudes Related To Male Involvement In Contraception At Planned Parenthood, Portland, Oregon, Patricia Long Burnet, Rhonda Lee Jack, Kathleen Margaret Leeson

Dissertations and Theses

In spite of the relative ease of accessibility to reliable contraception, unplanned pregnancy continues to be a major social problem for both society and for those individuals personally involved. The growing furor over adolescent unplanned pregnancy has not only led to arguments over abortions on legal, financial, and moral levels but has resulted in studies pertaining to non-use of birth control among all ages. Contraceptives are not being used as widely and effectively as they could be.

The primary goal of this research is to explore the male's role (or lack of it) in family planning. A further goal is …

The Resilience Of The Child As A Factor In Successful Adjustment To Permanent Placement, Lani Maureen Mcdonald

Dissertations and Theses

This study explores the hypothesis that constitutional factors were significant in mediating their successful adjustment. The adjustment of children who in the past would have been viewed as permanently scarred and unable to adjust has provided researchers with an idiosyncratic situation that has also been found in other studies: children have adjusted despite odds against it and children considered to have incurred minimal trauma have had difficulty adjusting.

Native American Social Work Symposium : An Evaluation, Lou Stone

Dissertations and Theses

The inconsistencies of the state and federal policy toward Native populations and additionally those inconsistencies within the two governments themselves, require the maintenance of Indian and Alaskan Native organizations with sophisticated mechanisms developed to advocate “reforms” in Indian services to meet unique Indian needs.

Indian and Alaskan Native social workers invariably find themselves at the confluence of client service provision and surviving the extension of policies available to them from resource allocators for the purpose of service provision. In order to approach this dilemma, the Native American Social Work Symposium, held in May of 1977, convened on the basis of …