Digital Commons Network^™

The Black Elderly Volunteer, Sandra E. Gonzales

Dissertations and Theses

The present study represents an attempt "to seek out one possible subgroup of the black elderly population--the volunteer. Black elderly volunteers are a puzzled about but largely unknown group. Very little systematic research has been done on this subject. Recently there has been an increased interest in volunteering among the elderly population as a whole, as social welfare planners seek new ways for the aged to find fulfillment and enjoyment. It is felt that volunteering can offer prestige, feelings of usefulness and other gratifications that may be lacking in the aged person's life.

Residential Treatment Of Emotionally Disturbed Adolescents, Rosemary Brown Sutherland

Dissertations and Theses

This study was requested by Dr. Ira B. Korman, Administrator, Woodland Park Mental Health Center. Woodland Park Mental Health Center currently provides a program of short-term evaluation and crisis care for adolescents. The staff there find it is difficult to locate suitable out-of-home placements for certain of their adolescent patients concluding hospitalization. Their concern for this group of hard-to-place patients has led to this inquiry, the purposes of which are to (1) assess need, (2) design a residential program, and (3) consider the feasibility of its implementation.

Oregon's Struggle Toward A Comprehensive Plan For Children's Mental Health Services: A Historical And Political Process, Kristin Angell

Dissertations and Theses

Practicum focusing on the history of the planning and development of children's mental health services in Oregon, with special emphasis on the training of pediatricians and how pediatricians address children's mental health issues. Offers a detailed look at the legislative processes surrounding mental health program development, as the heightened role that referrals play in how treatment is identified and administered.

Attitudes Of Women Toward World Hunger, Judith L. Kidd

Dissertations and Theses

The primary purpose of this study is to explore the attitudes of women toward the world food crisis, their roles, and the roles of their countries in its possible solutions. The data is based on a questionnaire administered to women from thirty countries who attended the International Women's Year Tribune in Mexico City, June 19 to July 2, 1975.

A Study Of Requests For Voluntary Admission To Oregon State Hospital, Julie Kern, Jeanne Miller, Alice Plummer

Dissertations and Theses

This study was undertaken in February and March of 1975 in order to provide in depth analysis of those seeking hospital admission. It is a descriptive study of requests for voluntary admission to Oregon State Hospital. Special care was taken to incorporate the study in such a way that the current admitting procedures would not be rearranged or changed in any way.

Essentially the study asks the questions:

• Who makes self-requests for hospitalization?
• Where do they come from? When? How do they get there? Why do they come?
• What is the history of their contact with other community agencies for …

The Proposed Community Involvement Activities Of The Multnomah County Department Of Public Safety : A Descriptive Study, Vertis Williams, Leearthur Madison

Dissertations and Theses

Serving in the capacity of Sheriff's interns during the time the decision had been made to implement Neighborhood Team Policing, the writers of this study propose to participate in evaluating the impact and effectiveness of the project. However, due to the size and complexity of such a task--and the time restrictions placed upon completion of this study--the boundaries of this research will be limited to those of providing descriptive data on the performance of project activities as they relate to the achievement of the objectives of Goal 1 of the Neighborhood Team Policing Project: Improved police-community mutual involvement and problem-solving.

A Model For Teaching Small Group Skills In A Laboratory Setting, Larry Ferguson, James Reavis

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this research practicum is to present the development, implementation, and evaluation of a model for teaching small group skills. This model was designed for a class in small groups that the authors of this paper taught at Portland State University in the School of Social Work. In designing this class, the authors were concerned with goals somewhat different than the more traditional goal of imparting knowledge about groups to the learner. The main goal of this class was to teach to students skills in working with small groups. This approach required developing a knowledge base about small …

Leadership Styles And Staff Satisfaction In Four Nursing Homes: Implications For Service Delivery, Carol Nightengale

Dissertations and Theses

This is a study of four nursing care facilities in Portland, Oregon in 1975-1976, which examines the relationship between leadership style and staff satisfaction, leadership style and patient satisfaction, and staff satisfaction and patient satisfaction.

Relationships Between Sex Role, Empathy And Anxiety, Charles M. Fantz

Dissertations and Theses

Recently Sandra Bem, a psychologist at Stanford University has written about the importance of developing a conception of mental health which is free from culturally imposed definitions of masculinity and femininity. She believes that defining certain behaviors as appropriate only for women and other behaviors as only appropriate for men is restricting and debilitating for both sexes. This sex-typing of behaviors has led to masculinity being associated with assertiveness and dominance, pragmatism, problem solving and task orientation, and a concern for one's individuality, whereas femininity is associated with emotional sensitivity and concern for the welfare of others, the seeking of …

The Utilization Of Preventive Health Care Services By Low Income Members Of A Comprehensive Prepaid Health Plan : The Impact Of Outreach Services, Linda Elmlund Mahoney

Dissertations and Theses

A reading of recent studies in preventative health care behavior recalls the proverb about the blind men and the elephant: each man is able to describe the part of the animal he is closest to, but none can see, and so none can put their diverse and often contradictory opinions together to come up with an accurate description of the whole elephant. Similarly, in preventative health care studies, each researcher or research group is able to observe the preventative health care utilization patterns of specific populations at particular times, but the conclusions reached are often based on less than complete …

Social Workers' Attitudes About Poverty, Trudy Hussmann

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study is to assess the attitudes of a select group of social workers in the Portland area. The study will focus on their attitudes about the causes of poverty and actions to deal with problems of poverty. These attitudes will be examined in the context of a theoretical framework. The sample consists of those social workers and social work-related professionals who serve as field instructors for the Portland State School of Social Work. This means that the study will also provide information about the attitudes that Portland State social work students are likely to encounter in …

A Functional Analysis Of The Effects Of A Token Economy Program On Attending Behavior In Children And Subsequent Test Performance, Kay Delores Lillig Cotter

Dissertations and Theses

Thirty children, 4 years 8 months to 6 years 7 months, enrolled in a privately operated day school, were randomly assigned to either a treatment group or a control group over a one week period of baseline and a one week period of treatment. The experiment was designed to determine, if the implementation of a token economy program to decrease disruptive behavior in a classroom would result in improved academic performance. Both the children's and teacher's behavior were assessed. The findings were nonsignificant for all of the dependent measures for children's behavior. The only significant effect for teacher's behavior was …

New Odessa, 1882-1887: United We Stand, Divided We Fall, Helen E. Blumenthal

Dissertations and Theses

The Oregon Territory and later the State of Oregon have had a well-deserved reputation for encouraging free thought and liberal ideas. By tradition, Oregon has been the scene of rugged individualism, a proving ground for ideas and movements. The commune of New Odessa was one of the lesser known attempts of a group of immigrants coming from persecution in Russian to a new way of life in America.

This thesis is a study starting with the background of Russian Jewry, the social climate in the United States and particularly Oregon which allowed for the development of communes, the story of …

Sentencing: A Study Of The Effects Of Presentence Report Recommendations Upon The Sentencing Practices Of Judges In Multnomah County, Oregon, John George Gardin Ii

Dissertations and Theses

The process of judicial decision-making is not well understood. This paper has tried to shed some light on that process by examining the impact of presentence report recommendations upon the sentences handed down by the judges of a circuit court. Very little empirical work has been done on this problem, even though the presentence report recommendation is generally regarded by those in the judicial system as extremely important to the sentencing process.

House Bill 1302: An Armistice In The Fish War On The Columbia, Emery Lewellyn Albertson

Dissertations and Theses

In late Spring of 1969, shortly before the Oregon Legislative Session adjourned, House Bill No. 1302 as amended passed the last legislative hurdle and was signed by the Governor. The new statute recognized steelhead trout as a game fish and provided for an incidental catch of these fish by the commercial fishery.

HB 1302 was a turning point in a century of conflict over anadromous fish of the Columbia River. The bill served as an armistice in a long sports-commercial steelhead conflict by providing some protection for these fish from commercial fishing. However the bill held off a major shift …

The Effects Of An Innovative Curriculum On The Attitudes Of "Educationally Disadvantaged" Freshman College Students, Julius William Wilkerson

Dissertations and Theses

Educational research literature suggests the expectations for success in college for youth from "educationally disadvantaged" backgrounds are tragically small. Reasons offered for this have included the lack of requisite academic preparation, lack of motivation, lack of appreciation for the value of a college education. The general purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of an innovative instructional technique in promoting the development of positive attitudes about self-worth, and academic achievement, for "disadvantaged" students. Specifically, this study attempted to identify the structure of attitudes of "educationally disadvantaged" students in the Portland State University support service program (Operation PLUS) about …

Course Demands Of Students In Teacher Education At Portland State University As Demonstrated By An Induced Course Load Matrix, Elinore Janet Rogers

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the interrelationships between the School of Education and the rest of the university by means of the course demands placed by elementary education majors and graduate education students on other academic departments during the fall terms of 1972 and 1973. It also examined the course demands placed on the School of Education by other major groups for this period. The Induced Course Load Matrix (ICLM) was the vehicle used in this examination. The hypothesis tested were 1) that elementary education majors and graduate education students placed equal course demands on the other …

A Conditioning Model For The Mccollough Effect, Andreas D. Lord

Dissertations and Theses

A model based on the laws of classical conditioning is posed as an explanation for the McCollough Effect, an orientation-specific color aftereffect. This model stands as an alternative to the color-coded edge detector hypothesis. Background and relevant issues are presented. Two experiments were performed. The first demonstrated that an auditory stimulus causes the effect to appear stronger to some subjects, a disinhibiting effect. It was also shown that some subjects experience spontaneous recovery of the effect after it has been extinguished.

The second experiment demonstrated that the after-colors will generalize to lines of varying orientation, including 45°. Subjects adapted to …

"Kubla Khan" And Its Critics, Allen Dale Widerburg

Dissertations and Theses

This paper evaluates the critical response to Samuel Coleridge's "Kubla Khan." In the Introduction I outline my critical approach, which attempts to see the relationships between parts of the poem, sources outside the poem and poet himself. In analyzing Coleridge's esthetics, I have come to the conclusion that the poem was the first of a new type of Romantic poem. The central structural principle of this type of poem is the use of illusion and the fragmented form, or the illusion of the fragmented form. Poems that fall within this esthetic frequently use the "vision within a dream" motif as …

The Predictive Validity Of A Police Officer Selection Program, Neil Bingham Davidson

Dissertations and Theses

This study was designed to determine the predictive validity of a police officer selection program and identify the contribution made by each major selection device to the total program. Police officers employed by the Portland Police Bureau who had completed three years of post-probationary employment were randomly assigned to a validation group and a cross-validation group on a two for one basis respectively. Beta weights were computed for the written test, interview and psychological scores in the validation group. The regression formula was then applied to the data in the cross-validation group. A cross-validation R of 0.12 was obtained between …

The Development Of Attitudes Toward Work Through "Career Education", Lonnie Fred Mcdonough Wheeler

Dissertations and Theses

Attitude measurement problems are discussed within the context of a contemporary movement in the field of education. A restricted definition of the alienation construct is suggested as a theoretical framework within which research in this area could be conducted. Construction and validation data on an instrument designed to measure attitudes toward work are reported. Pre and posttest scores (using the above measure as well as the Rotter I-E Scale) of two high school Career Education programs were compared. Neither program produced significant mean attitude change in terms of these measures. However, change detected by increase in the variance on the …

Development Of An Observation Instrument To Assess Behavior, Scott Marshall Nay

Dissertations and Theses

The Vernon-Nay Category Instrument was developed as the result of an experimental project in an inner-city school. The effects of the reorganization of the administration of the school and the total staff participation in a workshop about human relations and communications were evaluated by the change of behavior of fifth- and sixth grade students in the classroom. The Flanders’ Interaction Analysis (assesses teacher-student verbal behavior) would measure change that occurred: however, the Vernon teachers wanted an assessment instrument that could, also, be used in the future, without professional assistance. The F.I.A. observation system was too complex for the staff's, unassisted, …

A Comparative Study Of The Relative Incidence Of Various Vocal Parameters Among Black And White College Females, Barbara Kuhl Jacobs

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to make a comparative investigation of the voice quality of black and white women. A review of the literature revealed considerable research has been conducted in the area of black-white language differences in the United States, but very little research has been conducted regarding comparisons of voice quality of Blacks and Whites. The suggestion that certain voice qualities are more characteristic of Blacks or Whites when compared as groups led the writer to pursue the present investigation.

Moving Toward Integration: A Study Of Theory And Practice In Feminist Therapy, Susan Amelia Thomas

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis describes a study designed to explore the emerging field of feminist therapy. The goal was not to test the validity of feminist therapy, to probe the assumptions on which it is based, or to compare it to other forms of therapy but to characterize the theory and practice of feminist therapy as it now exists. Feminist therapy was seen as growing out of the cultural and historical context of the feminist movement, which includes a critique of society with emphasis on the particular psychological consequences for women, and a critique of psychotherapy, particularly Freudian psychotherapy, as oppressive to …

The Relative Social Acceptability Of Three Types Of Alaryngeal Speech, Kathleen Dawn Stewart

Dissertations and Theses

As a result of the surgical removal of the larynx, the laryngectomee is no longer able to speak and must choose to learn a new method of oral communication if he wishes to communicate orally. Laryngectomees, speech clinicians and physicians need to be provided with information which will assist in the selection of the most appropriate type of alaryngeal speech for each individual. Social acceptability is one criterion which may be an important consideration. This study, therefore, compared three modes of alaryngeal speech: Asai, esophageal, and artificial larynx, on the parameter of social acceptability.

Role Exits Among The Aged, Nancy Whitelaw Mancini

Dissertations and Theses

The concept of role exit presented by Zena Smith Blau in her book, Old Age in a Changing Society, refers to the ongoing process of relinquishing previously enacted social roles; a process which is part of everyday life for men and women of all ages. However, Blau argues that role exits in later life are different from those in earlier stages of the life cycle because they tend to be terminal and involuntary. These factors, according to Blau, cause role exits in old age to negatively influence the individual's overall satisfaction with life.

This thesis examines the concept of …

Exteroceptive Influence On A Marihuana Induced Conditioned Taste Aversion, Albert William Greenwood

Dissertations and Theses

Forty-five male, Sprague Dawley rats were used to determine if external stimuli could influence the length of a conditioned taste aversion. Animals were given a novel taste (sucrose), and then injected with one of three different substances, marihuana, LiCI, or saline. The animals were then placed into either a stimulation condition, a non-stimulation condition, or returned to the home cage. The stimulation condition contained aversive stimuli in the form of bright, flashing lights and loud noises. The other conditions had no aversive stimulation. It was expected that the animals receiving injections of marihuana would have an increase in their responsiveness …

Close Supervision Program: An Analysis Of A Human Services Program, Thomas Wright Jr., V. Henderson Trotman

Dissertations and Theses

Multnomah County, Oregon, like many other counties across the nation, faces the perplexing problem of meeting the needs of the youthful offender. Historically, and even in more recent times, juvenile court authorities have relied primarily on detention facilities to provide secure custody for youthful offenders. However, the continued increase in delinquency and a growing storm of criticism of the juvenile court have led to a re-examination of current policy and a number of proposed changes on both the national and local level.

A policy change in Multnomah County with regard to detention of youthful offenders has led to the closure …

Location Of Dyspraxic Characteristics In Children With Severe "Functional" Articulation Disorders, Sara Miller Mitcham

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this investigation was to determine if children labeled as “severe” functional articulation disordered, who had been enrolled in public school speech programs for one year or more, exhibited dyspraxic-like characteristics.

Twenty individuals between the ages of 8 and 11 were chosen from the Gresham Public Schools, Lynch Public Schools, Portland Public Schools, Rockwood Public Schools and the Crippled Children’s Division, University of Oregon Medical School to serve as subjects for the three groups in this study. Eight subjects who comprised the experimental group were "severe" functional articulation disorders and were selected from the public schools. Each misarticulated …

A Descriptive Study Of Five Child Day Treatment Centers, Virginia Spurkland, Joyce Edwards

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis is a descriptive study of five child day treatment centers in Oregon. Its purpose was to generate hypotheses about the relationships between parent reactions to the day treatment center, the center’s theoretical orientation toward treatment, and the organizational structure of the center.

The five centers involved in the study were: Poyama land in Independence, Oregon; the Child Psychiatric Day Center in Portland, Oregon; Mid-Columbia Children’s Center in the The Dalles, Oregon; the Child center in Eugene; and Edgefield Lodge in Troutdale, Oregon. These centers were selected for this study because of their proximity to the Portland area and …