Digital Commons Network^™

Promoting Language Access In The Legal Academy, Gillian Dutton, Beth Lyon, Jayesh M. Rathod, Deborah M. Weissman

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Assessing Treatment Integrity: A Case Example, Anat Zeira, Betty Blythe, Anita Reithoffer Tucker

Faculty Publications

This paper presents an example of assessing treatment integrity as part of an experimental study of home-based, intensive family preservation services (IFPS). Participants were 103 IFPS workers and 24 state public child welfare agency workers (FC). The structured, self-report questionnaire included questions about specific components of the services, as well as the characteristics of the family and the workers themselves. Findings suggest that IFPS workers delivered services according to the treatment model guidelines. The procedure yielded a good estimate of whether the structural components of treatment were delivered according to the model as delineated in the treatment manual. The paper …

Fading From The Family Portrait, Andrew Root

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Screen-Based World: Finding The Real In The Hyper-Real, Andrew Root

Faculty Publications

What is real? In our media-filled world, have we mistaken the image for the real thing? The church is called to proclaim the real, not by rejecting the use of sign and image, but by affirming those that speak the truth of our existence.

Joining God's Work, Andrew Root

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Confrontation In Children's Cases: The Dimensions Of Limited Coverage, Robert P. Mosteller

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Me, My Spouse, And My Avatar: The Relationship Between Marital Satisfaction And Playing Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (Mmorpgs), Michelle Ahlstrom, Neil R. Lundberg, Ramon Zabriskie, Dennis Eggett, Gordon B. Lindsay

Faculty Publications

A variety of online support groups exist for “gaming widows” who feel their spousal relationship has been displaced by time spent playing Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game(s) (MMORPGs). MMORPG research has been presented on youth and adults, however to date, there is no research on married gamers to support or refute the claims of discontented spouses. The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the gaming behaviors of couples who play MMORPGs. The sample included 349 couples. Results indicated lower marital satisfaction related to couples’ MMORPG gaming interactions such as quarrelling about gaming, not retiring to …

Parental Problems, Case Plan Requirements, And Service Targeting In Child Welfare Reunification, Amy C. D’Andrade, R. Chambers

Faculty Publications

Only about half of parents attempting to reunify with their children in foster care succeed in their efforts. Parents are ordered by the court to use treatment services in order to resolve their problems. These treatment services thus play a critical role in reunification, and in fact the use of services appropriately matched to parents' problems has been found to be associated with a greater likelihood of reunification. However, there is little in the literature regarding the specific requirements of reunification case plans, and whether they are accurately targeted at reunifying parents' problems. This mostly descriptive study uses case file …

Measuring Life Skills: Standardizing The Assessment Of Youth Development Indicators, Mat D. Duerden, Peter A. Witt, Mariela Fernandez, Marie Jolliff Bryant, Daniel Theriault

Faculty Publications

While the development of life skills (e.g., communication, problem solving, etc.) is a commonly targeted youth program outcome, the lack of standardized conceptualizations and instrumentation make it difficult to compare impacts across programs and develop validated best practices. In order to promote a more unified approach to life skill development, literature reviews were conducted for 10 life skill domains to identify common definitions and, if available, appropriate outcome measures. Data were then collected from an ethnically diverse sample (N = 758) of elementary, middle, and high school aged youth for the 10 identified instruments. Analyses were conducted to ascertain the …

A Closer Look At Co-Rumination: Gender, Coping, Peer Functioning And Internalizing/Externalizing Problems, Tanya L. Tompkins, Ashlee R. Hockett, Nadia Abraibesh, Jody L. Witt

Faculty Publications

Co-rumination, defined as repetitive, problem-focused talk, explains higher levels of friendship quality in youth (Rose, 2002) and increased levels of anxiety/depression in females. Middle adolescents (N=146) participated in a study of co-rumination, individual coping, externalizing/internalizing problems, and peer functioning. Consistent with past research, girls reported higher levels of co-rumination and internalizing symptoms. Co-rumination was also positively correlated with self-reports, but not teacher reports, of anxiety/depression and aggressive behavior. Both self-reported number of friends and teacher-rated social acceptance were negatively associated with co-rumination. Co-rumination partially accounted for the significant indirect effect of gender on internalizing symptoms. Additionally, co-rumination was …

The Dakota Father Friendly Assessment: Measuring Father Friendliness In Head Start And Similar Settings, Joseph M. White, Sean E. Brotherson, Adam M. Galovan, Erin K. Holmes, Jennifer A. Kampmann

Faculty Publications

Head Start programs offer a setting to examine support that facilitates father involvement. The Dakota Father Friendly Assessment (DFFA) is designed to evaluate an organization's level of father-friendliness. To establish its psychometric properties, a sample of North and South Dakota early childhood staff (N = 609) completed the DFFA. A number of measure were included as indicators of validity. Factor analysis of the DFFA confirmed the presence of four expected factors and revealed a fifth factor (loadings ranged from .40 to .80). Coefficient alphas for DFFA sub scales ranged from .71 to .87. Moderate relationships existed between DFFA sub …

Enrolling And Engaging High-Risk Youths And Families In Community-Based, Brief Intervention Services, Richard Dembo, Laura M. Gulledge, Rhissa Briones-Robinson, Ken C. Winters

Faculty Publications

Increasing interest has been shown in brief interventions for troubled persons, including those with substance abuse problems. Most of the published literature on this topic has focused on adults, and on the efficacy of these interventions. Few of these studies have examined the critical issues of enrollment and engagement in brief intervention services. The present article seeks to address the shortcomings in the current literature by reporting on our experiences implementing National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)-funded brief intervention projects involving truant and diversion program youths.

Assessing The Need For The Development Of Standardized Life Skills Measures, Mat D. Duerden, Peter A. Witt

Faculty Publications

Youth practitioners often select life skills as intentionally targeted program outcomes. While research findings suggest the efficacy of program experiences to positively influence a variety of life skills, it remains difficult to compare these findings due to measurement incongruities. Individual life skills (e.g., leadership, decision making, etc.) often lack standardized conceptualizations and measurement approaches. The purpose of the study reported here was to gather data about practitioners' perceptions of those life skill domains most in need of measurement development. Based on the results of the study, 10 life skill sub-domains are recommended for future measurement development efforts.

Identity In A Digital Age, Andrew Root

Faculty Publications

Not long ago, “identity” was understood to be established and retained more-or-less as is throughout life. No longer. The digital shrinking of time and space has made identity fluid, and the church faces a new task.

Proposed Combination Of Comcast And Nbc-Universal, Allen S. Hammond Iv, United States House Of Representatives, Committee On The Judiciary

Faculty Publications

Hammond's testimony begins on p. 124.

Modeling Family Leisure And Related Family Constructs: A National Study Of U.S. Parent And Youth Perspectives, Raymond A. Poff, Ramon Zabriskie, Jasmine A. Townsend

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to begin the development of a broad model that could examine the structural relationships between family leisure involvement, family functioning, family communication, family leisure satisfaction, and satisfaction with family life among a large sample of families (n = 898) from the United States. Findings from both parent and youth perspectives were consistent with previous studies that examined the same variables individually and provided a possible picture of how these family variables might relate to one another in the broader context of family leisure. Slight differences between the parent and youth models added further insight …

Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word: The Fair Sentencing Act Of 2010, Crack, And Methamphetamine, Kyle Graham

Faculty Publications

This Essay considers the circumstances that led to the enactment of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, which increased the quantities of crack cocaine necessary to implicate mandatory minimum prison sentences for federal drug trafficking crimes, and considers whether the Act might facilitate re-evaluation of the penalty scheme applicable to methamphetamine.

Just Kids: Baltimore’S Youth In The Adult Criminal Justice System, Wendy Hess

Faculty Publications

Maryland’s 20 year experiment with the “tough on crime” approach of automatically sending youth into adult criminal courts, jails and prisons for certain offenses has failed. National studies show that youth who are sent to adult facilities go on to commit more—and more violent—crimes than those who received rehabilitative services in the juvenile system. This costs taxpayers much more in the long run. Automatically charging youth as adults has been politically popular. But the data shows that when their cases are individually considered, most cases in Baltimore are dismissed or sent back to the juvenile system, raising the question of …

That Guy's A Batterer!: A Scarlet Letter Approach To Domestic Violence In The Information Age, Elaine M. Chiu

Faculty Publications

Despite the remarkable reliance on the Internet as a source of information, we have yet to fully take advantage of it in our movement against domestic violence. Information is used as a weapon in the battle against domestic violence in several limited ways. Yet there is still more we can do with information and, specifically, the Internet, in combating domestic violence. The Scarlet Letter proposal seeks to empower potential victims of domestic violence with information so that they themselves can make choices that will avoid years of suffering and abuse. The idea is to allow public access to the data …

Contributions Of Family Leisure To Family Functioning Among Single-Parent Families, Laurel B. Hornberger, Ramon Zabriskie, Patti Freeman

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to examine the contribution of family leisure involvement to the family functioning of single-parent families and to compare family functioning and family leisure between large samples of dual and single-parent families. Data were collected from a dependent child and custodial parent in 362 U.S. single-parent households. Core and balance family leisure involvement were related to both family cohesion and family adaptability, with core family leisure explaining more variance in family functioning variables from parent, youth, and family perspectives. Family functioning among single-parent families was similar to that of dual-parent families. Family leisure involvement among …

Self-Regulation As A Mediator Between Sibling Relationship Quality And Early Adolescents’ Positive And Negative Outcomes, Laura M. Padilla-Walker, James M. Harper, Alexander C. Jensen Phd

Faculty Publications

The current study examined the role of adolescents’ self-regulation as a mediator between sibling relationship quality and adolescent outcomes, after controlling for the quality of the parent-child relationship. Participants were 395 families (282 two parent; 113 single parent) with an adolescent child (M age of child at Time 1 = 11.15, SD = .96, 49% female) who took part in [project name masked for blind review] at both Time 1 and Time 2. Path analysis via structural equation modeling suggested that sibling affection was longitudinally and positively related to self-regulation and prosocial behaviors, and negatively related to externalizing behaviors; while …

But 'Will It Write'? How Writing Sharpens Decision-Making, Douglas E. Abrams

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Different Types And Patterns Of Services On Successful Reunification, California Social Work Education Center (Calswec), Amy D'Andrade

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Service Learning In Preservice Teacher Preparation: Building Foundations For Engaged Professionalism In The New Millenium, Amy Strage, Susan Gomez, Kari Knutson-Miller, Ana Garcia-Nevarez

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Raising The Cut-Off: The Empirical Case For Extending Adoption And Guardianship Subsidies From Age 18 To 21, Josh Gupta-Kagan

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Using The Fourteenth Amendment To Protect The Integrity Of Kinship Foster Families, Jennifer Baum, Teresa J. Grogan

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

As children’s advocates, we know well the value of an extended family to a dependency case. Living with a family member is often considered by children removed from their parents to be the “second best.” Such arrangements are often more comforting, less socially stigmatizing, and more capable at facilitating children’s normal daily routines, including school, medical care, and religious training, than stranger foster care. The social and psychological benefits of kinship care are well documented. One recent retrospective study concluded that children in kinship foster care have fewer behavioral problems three years after placement than do children who were …

Family Leisure Satisfaction And Satisfaction With Family Life, Joel R. Agate, Ramon B. Zabriskie, Sarah Taylor Agate, Raymond Poff

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between family leisure satisfaction and satisfaction with family life. Zabriskie’s Family Leisure Activity Profile was used to measure family leisure satisfaction. The Satisfaction with Family Life Scale was used to measure satisfaction with family life. The sample consisted of 898 families from throughout the United States. Results indicated a relationship between all family leisure satisfaction variables and satisfaction with family life. Data collected from parents and youth provided insight into the relationship between family leisure satisfaction and satisfaction with family life. At the parent, youth, and family levels, core family …

Constitutional Birthright: The State, Parentage, And The Rights Of Newborn Persons, James G. Dwyer

Faculty Publications

State parentage laws, dictating who a newborn child's first legal parents will be, have been the subject of constitutional challenges in several U.S. Supreme Court and many lower court decisions. All of those decisions, however, have focused on constitutional rights of adults (especially unwed biological fathers) who wish to become, or to avoid becoming, legal parents. Neither courts nor legal scholars have considered whether the children have any constitutional rights that constrain legislatures and courts in deciding which adults will be their legal parents. If a state enacted a parentage law that said, for example, that any child born to …

Contributions Of Family Leisure To Family Functioning Among Families That Include Children With Developmental Disabilities, Dorthy C. H. Dodd, Ramon Zabriskie, Mark A. Widmer, Dennis Eggett

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between family leisure involvement and family functioning among families that include children with developmental disabilities. The sample consisted of 144 families (144 parents and 60 youth). Data were analyzed from the parent, youth, and family perspective. The Family Leisure Activity Profile (FLAP) was used to measure family leisure involvement. FACES II was used to measure family functioning. A scale based upon the definition, classification, and systems of support manual of the American Association on Mental Retardation adapted by Dyches was used to measure the level of support needed by the …

Latter-Day Saint Children And Youth In America, David C. Dollahite

Faculty Publications

Some of the concepts of the view of the childhood held by the Latter-day Saints can be found in stories told about the early life of their founder and first prophet, Joseph Smith. Brother Joseph, as he was known to the Saints, often took time to play games with children and youth. Some Mormons, with their early American sense of propriety about religious leaders, were troubled by Joseph's playful nature. One day a Brother Wakefield came to the Prophet's home to discuss church business. He was told that Brother Joseph was translating the word of God. Brother Wakefield waited some …