Digital Commons Network^™

An Evaluation Of A Data-Based Sex Education Training Program For Mentally Retarded Adults, Patricia Ann Riley

Dissertations and Theses

The study determined that twenty-three mildly to moderately retarded adults living within the community increased their sexual knowledge after attending a twelve month, data-based sex education training program. The Lane Community College-Adult Basic Education (LCC-ABE) Pre/Post Test was administered to each subject when he/she began and finished the training program. The Intermittent Probe Tests were administered to each subject after instruction in each of thirteen topic areas in the curriculum. The main conclusions were that: (a) the subjects significantly increased their sexual knowledge after training; (b) class, sex, ability level, age, type of residence, and length of time in that …

Welfare Stigmatization And The Elderly: The Case Of The Supplemental Security Income Program, Peter Jic-Leung Man

Dissertations and Theses

Policy-makers and others historically have assumed that welfare programs should give assistance to the poor and carry stigma. This attitude in part developed from the English Poor Laws tradition in which poverty was considered a negative condition. Labeling theory has often been used to explain the process of welfare stigmatization. Once an individual is labeled as a deviant, such as a welfare recipient, a self-fulfilling prophecy is initiated. Others perceive and respond to the individual as a deviant and the individual also internalized the stigma attached to such a role. The stigma attached to public dependency becomes an outcome of …

Stressful Life Events : A Comparative Study Of Native American And Urban Samples, Sandra Ketcher

Dissertations and Theses

The subject of this paper is an extension of the work done Holmes and Rahe on the development of the Social Readjustment Rating Scale or SRRS and of the study, “Individual Perception of Stressful Life Events: A Comparison of Native Americans, Rural, and Urban Samples,” conducted by Dr. Liberman and Joel Frank. This study will compare those two samples with a sample of a selected Pacific Northwest Indian tribe served by an Indian Health Service facility.

“The Stressful Life Events: A Comparative Study of Native American and Urban Samples” study is a singular component of a total effort on the …

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.

Adoption Of Children In Foster Care: A Comparison Of Processes Leading To Adoption By Foster Parents And Adoption By Others, Janet Lahti

Dissertations and Theses

This research evaluates the results of a change in policy by Oregon's Children's Services Division permitting foster parents to adopt their foster child. A comparison was made between two groups of children, both of whom were seen by their caseworkers as not likely to return home and adoptable. One group was believed likely to be adopted by foster parents and the other believed likely to be adopted by new parents. Process and outcome of placement efforts for the two groups are described and compared. The study sample, comprised of 155 children, were followed for 28 months from the time the …

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.

Follow-Up Study Of Children In Six Day And Residential Treatment Service (Darts) Centers In Oregon, Doris M. Beard, L. Gail Bulkley

Dissertations and Theses

This study was begun at the request of the Mental Health Division (MHD) of the State of Oregon. The purpose was to conduct a follow-up study on six Day and Residential Treatment Service (DARTS) Centers which are funded by MHD. The purpose of the research was to assess whether or not the Centers are an effective treatment tool. The information acquired by this study will be used to provide information to MHD and the DARTS Center Directors to assist their decision making regarding program direction, and to provide MHD with specific information to be used in preparation for the upcoming …

A Study Of Multnomah County Community Support Services For The Chronically Mentally Ill, Karen Albers

Dissertations and Theses

In recent years attention has been given to the problems of the chronically mentally ill in regard to the effects of deinstitutionalization and a need for community supports. In this study, 77 service providers to the chronically mentally ill of Multnomah County (Portland), Oregon were interviewed to assess the components of the existing community support system for this population, as well as to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the system. Ten chronically mentally ill clients were interviewed in a similar manner.

Although a multitude of problems were reported, service providers most frequently mentioned the need for residential situations, for …

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 Study Of The Relationship Between Visual Short Term Memory And Speechreading In Hearing Impaired Geriatrics, Catherine Hollevoet

Dissertations and Theses

The relationship between visual short term memory (as measured by the Memory for Designs Test) and speechreading ability (as measured by the Barley Speechreading Test) was investigated in a sample of twenty-seven hearing impaired geriatrics. Correlation analysis verified a statistically significant relationship between Memory for Designs Test scores and Barley Speechreading Test scores. Partial correlation revealed the relationship between speechreading scores and short term memory scores was rot influenced significantly by variance in chronological age or speech discrimination ability. Memory for Designs Test scores were shown to be accurate predictors of scores achieved on the Barley Speechreading Test.

Results of …

A Descriptive Study Of Demography & Transportation Issues Of Chronically Mentally Ill In The Eastern Oregon Comprehensive Community Mental Health Catchment Area, Tom H. Brubaker, David Emmons, John Meade

Dissertations and Theses

The CMI (Chronically Mentally Ill) experience many problems in obtaining services in both rural and urban environments. Such problems include community resistance to the mentally ill, inadequate treatment services, support systems, a lack of service utilization, and a lack of follow-up studies concerning this population, especially in rural areas. While these problems are generally characteristic of all areas of the country, whether urban or rural, they tend to have extreme manifestations in rural areas. Such problems are also conjoint in rural areas with rural life poverty, isolation, transportation difficulties, and sparse populations. In order to understand the possible barriers to …

Industrial Social Work : A Review Of The Literature And An Evaluation Of An Employee Assistance Program, Gregory Mark Lee

Dissertations and Theses

In the attempt to explore the world of work as an arena for mental health services, this report can be considered as having two major goals. The first is to provide a review and discussion of many of the issues that impact on and are part of the industrial social work field. The meaning of work will be discussed, from both an historical and psychological point of view. Aspects of the community mental health ideology will be presented, especially in relation to the world of work. A brief review of various types of mental health programming will be discussed, as …

The Relationship Of Maternal Childrearing Practices To Prosocial Behavior And Resistance To Temptation In Preschool Children, Jennifer Anne Deck Jennings

Dissertations and Theses

Preschool children's prosocial behavior and resistance to temptation were examined in relation to maternal childbearing practices. Forty-seven children and their mothers participated in the study. At a play session at the child's day care center, each child was given opportunities to behave prosocially, i.e., to help, share, teach, or exhibit sympathy, and to resist temptation, i.e., refrain from playing with an attractive but forbidden toy. Mothers of these children were individually interviewed and given a questionnaire developed for this study.

Group Painting As A Means Of Self-Expression And Communication For Mentally Retarded Persons: Three Case Histories, Yaeko Steidel

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis presents the results of a longitudinal study of a painting class for a group of mentally and physically handicapped young adults. The author's observational journal and the students' paintings provided the basis of the thesis.

The author gave maximum freedom to her students and the students fully exercised creativity through their painting activity. This experience brought a new identity to the group. The students evolved from a collection of separate people into a cohesive social unit.

The author tries to show, in this developmental process, how intellectual and emotional events and problems were met and solved by the …

Intelligence And Nonintelligence Factors Contributing To Scores On The Rorschach Prognostic Rating Scale, Anneke P. Hathaway

Dissertations and Theses

Correlation between the RPRS total and WAIS FSIQ showed that approximately 43% of the variance in the RPRS total can be accounted for by the variance in the FSIQ. Verbal IQ is not significantly higher correlated with the RPRS total than the Performance IQ (p < .10). Factor analysis of the 6 RPRS subscores resulted in 2 factors. Subsequent factor analysis of the 6 RPRS subscores plus FSIQ and the factor analysis of the 6 RPRS subscores plus PIQ and VIQ showed the first factor to be an intelligence factor accounting for 85% of the common variance. The RPRS variables FL, FM, M and Sh loaded on this factor. The second factor was a nonintelligence factor accounting for 15% of the common variance. Small m is clearly the main determinant of this factor followed by Sh. In addition, the results of 2 exploratory factor analyses are discussed. The first exploratory factor analysis involved 23 variables, namely the 6 RPRS subscores, RPRS total, the 11 WAIS subscales, FSIQ, VIQ, PIQ, VIS and OABD. The second exploratory analysis involved 17 variables, namely the 6 RPRS subscores and the 11 WAIS subscales.

Effects Of Cognition Training On Locus Of Control (Lc), Weight Reduction, And Problem Solving Ability, Lisa Buckmaster

Dissertations and Theses

Weight control is an area of research which continues to generate attention in an endeavor to find the most effective and long lasting weight loss methods. In the realm of the behavioral modification of weight control, emphasis has been given to the impact of external stimuli on eating behavior. Less well researched are internal stimuli, that is, cognitive events, feelings, and thoughts which influence eating habits. The literature on obesity has yet to empirically differentiate the effects of the cognitive and external factors on weight control. A cognitive restructuring approach to weight reduction was hypothesized to be the more effective …

Invasions Of Personal Space: A Field Experiment, Lisa Demian

Dissertations and Theses

The present study examined the relationship between invasions of personal space and measures of glancing, blocking, leaning, head-shoulder orientation, movement away from the invader, and flight latency. These behaviors have been described in previous studies as occurring in response to spatial invasions, and the equilibrium model proposed to account for their occurrence. Hypotheses consistent with this model were tested in a 2 x 2 x 3 design which varied sex of invader, sex of subject and distance of subject from invader (1 foot, 2 feet, or 5 feet). None of the predicted relationships obtained, although females blocked more frequently than …

Developmental Tasks Of Older People: Implications For Group Work Practice, Mitchell Alan Lang

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study is to explore the ways in which a developmental approach to personality change can be applied to the later years in life. Chapter II is a brief introduction to the concept of development and its relation to aging. Chapter III contains a literature review of existing developmental theories of aging plus those theories which I feel can be integrated into a psychosocial developmental model. Chapter IV, a description of group work techniques with older people based on the developmental task approach, contains my own ideas for group practice. My primary intention throughout the paper is …

The Effects Of A Child's Serious Illness Upon His Or Her Siblings, Kathleen Bales

Dissertations and Theses

In an effort to prevent serious psychological damage to individuals and families due to illness or disability, professionals in the health field have studied every aspect of one's health. From the "traumatic violence" of birth to the painful complexities of death and dying, the emotional health of human beings has been observed, recorded and analysed. Despite the breadth of this voluminous research, one area of interest merits more thorough study and evaluation. In order to more fully understand the intricacies of health and illness we need to know more about the effect one seriously ill child has upon the emotional …

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 …

Assessment Of The Needs Of The Families Of The Hospitalized Mentally Ill, Jean Pelosi Audette, Phyllis J. Jossy

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to assess the special needs of the families of hospitalized mental patients. The study focused upon the time prior to and including the decision to hospitalize a mentally ill family member. Particularly, the researchers wished to examine the stresses that the family encountered in attempting to deal with a disturbed member as well as their concerns regarding psychiatric hospitalization and the effect which it had upon the family.

A Descriptive Study Of Social Service Needs And Demographic Characteristics Of Selected Emergency Room Patients, Anne K. Parker

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study is to gain information about the social service needs and demographic characteristics of patients admitted to Providence Hospital's emergency room during the hours a social worker is not available. The emergency room staff requested the information in order to utilize it in planning emergency room services.

A Comparative Study Of The Short-Term Auditory Memory Span And Sequence Of Language/Learning Disabled Children And Normal Children, Kathleen M. Mccausland

Dissertations and Theses

This investigation compared the auditory memory span and sequence of language/learning disabled children with that of normal children to determine if there was a difference between the two groups on short-term auditory memory, ordering of stimulus type difficulty and performance on subtests using various stimulus types. Fifteen LD subjects were matched with fifteen normal subjects for mental age as measured by the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. The Auditory Memory Test Battery (AMTB) was administered to each subject. The AMTB consists of five tape recorded subtests of recall for sentences, digits, related words, unrelated words, and nonsense words. Each subject responded …

A Research Project On The Developmentally Disabled Adult, Randi Lynn Hillinger

Dissertations and Theses

No comprehensive data base concerning the adult developmentally disabled (ADD) population is available. The absence of theoretical formulations about aging, and particularly the aging ADD, make it difficult for service providers or professionals to incorporate a conceptual framework into their work.

Material-Specific Processes In Tactile Short-Term Memory, Christina Anne Meyers

Dissertations and Theses

Studies concerning tactile short-term memory (short-term memory or the sense of touch) have often been contradictory. Some of these studies support the existence of modality-specific tactile memory, a separate, independent storage system for tactile information. Other studies do not support such a system. Further, confusion has arisen regarding the tactile test materials, since many of them use common shapes which are easily labeled verbally. It is hypothesized that information which can be labeled is stored in material-specific verbal memory in the left hemisphere, while patterned or spatial information is stored in material-specific nonverbal memory in the right hemisphere.

This paper …

A Descriptive Study Of The Relationship Between Age And Problems Expressed By Women Seeking Out-Patient Mental Health Services, Linda M. Rodgers, Joyce Carey

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study is to provide a descriptive analysis of the problems presented by a specific group of women seeking out-patient mental health treatment and to relate these problems to the ontogenetic (age-related) developmental issues presented in a study of the literature. The researcher's involvement in this area developed from interest in current literature on adult development, and a personal commitment to life-long growth and acceptance of the inherent changes. In order to investigate whether developmental issues exist for this group of women, and if so to describe them, two distinct age groups--the decades of the 20's and …

An Exploration Into The Field Of Hospital Social Work, Timothy D. Haley

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this project is to explore the field of hospital social work to see what, if any frustrations, problem areas, and/or dissatisfactions exist among those who work in this profession. In order to accomplish this task of exploration, the project is composed of three parts. The first segment is the literature review (Chapter II). It is divided into a brief history of hospital social work and other studies that have been done on hospital social workers. It is hoped that the combination of both of these components will reflect the struggles, strengths, and problems of the profession, therefore …

An Analysis Of The Relationship Between Personality Characteristics Of Social Work Students And Choice Of Social Work Practice Area, Linda A. Yegge, Francie E. Buktenica

Dissertations and Theses

Due to curiosity about the "individual" vs. "social" intervention argument in the profession of social work, the authors of this study attempted to answer the question, “Do personality characteristics of Social Work Graduate Students influence their choice of social work practice?" Our hypothesis was that Introverts would be more inclined to focus on the individual in social work practice as opposed to Extraverts who would see societal change as a more pressing practice issue. Although our study identified no correlation between Introversion and Extraversion and social work practice orientation, there were some suggestions for further study. There appeared to be …

A Consumer Evaluation Of The Clackamas County Family Court Service, Barbara E. Lee, Patricia E. Watne

Dissertations and Theses

This report describes a consumer evaluation study of the Clackamas County Family Court Service, a court-connected marriage and divorce counseling agency near Portland, Oregon.

A questionnaire was mailed to 168 individuals who had participated in counseling at the agency between November 1, 1976, and November 1, 1977. The questionnaire focused on former clients' perspectives on agency helpfulness, satisfaction with counselor’s assistance, accomplishment of agency identified objectives for counseling, and suggested areas for program improvement.

The Effect Of Background Noise On Children's Selective Listening Behavior, Cathryn A. Chartier

Dissertations and Theses

This study investigated the effect of distracting linguistic background noise on children's ability to perform three-part commands. A total of twelve first grade subjects, six "normal" and six reading delayed, were individually administered a series of twenty, three-part commands. Each child performed once in quiet and once in a noise environment, and the performances in those two conditions were compared.