Digital Commons Network^™

Community Mental Health Care In The U.S.: The Impact Of Deinstitutionalization And Assertive Community Treatment, Mariana A. De Oliveira

Masters Theses

The current review was designed to provide a better understanding of the present situation of mental health care in the U.S. Therefore, a review of the history of deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill in the U.S. and an exploration of the role of a prominent current model in mental health care, Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) were undertaken. Deinstitutionalization changed the paradigm of mental health care in the country. This process underwent different stages from religious based care, to large stated hospitals and to community care, where it stands now. Research articles on ACT in urban and in rural areas were …

Home: A Concept Analysis With Application Of The Concept To Experiences Of Individuals With Serious And Persistent Mental Illness, Corinne A. Overmyer

Masters Theses

The purpose of this paper was to explore and define the concept of home through an extensive review of the literature. The concept analysis framework of Walker and Avant (1995) was used to structure the paper and the theories of Johnson (1980) and Maslow (1954) were used for operationalization. The literature search examined characteristics of home applicable to all individuals. The concept’s defining attributes were discovered and applied to the home experiences of those living with serious and persistent mental illness. Homes were evaluated to assess for attribute presence and to determine if the homes were model, borderline, or contrary. …

Bringing Her Fist Down On That Wholeness: Rewriting Gendered Narratives In Zoeìˆ Wicomb's Fiction, Rachel Heicher

Masters Theses

This thesis situates South African writer Zoë Wicomb's fictional work within a critical context of current feminist theory, exploring Wicomb's response to a central problem for poststructuralist feminism-how can we deconstruct femininity while simultaneously conserving a platform for feminist political activism; how can we assert. on the one hand, that there are no "women", and then, on the other, continue to campaign on behalf of "women's" rights? Wicomb's two novels to date, You Can't Get Lost in Cape Town (1987) and David's Story (2000) serve as test studies for a model of gender that fluctuates and purposefully and constructively embodies …

Re-Assessing State Writing Assessment, Tracy Wright

Masters Theses

Because standardized testing is the means by which most student skills are assessed, it is important to ensure that such tests are accurately portraying student abilities. In the case of standardized writing tests it has become apparent that such tests are both unreliable and invalid and the tests, are, therefore, not doing what they are intended to do. Standardized writing tests do not create typical representations of student writing and in most cases only lead to the creation of formulaic writing-the five-paragraph essay. To achieve a more reliable and accurate measure of students' abilities to write states should look to …

A Multicomponent Intervention System Using Human Performance Technology Concepts To Improve Performance In Small Service Businesses, Doug Lafleur

Masters Theses

A small business servicing dealerships in the chimney lining industry was responsible for training and resupplying contractors in a propriety chimney lining system. A process was developed for sharing and comparing the dealerships' financial reports and business processes. The process involved a small group of dealers attending regular 6- month meetings called Impact Groups. Dealers took turns hosting the meetings and having the attending dealers analyze their business. A detailed list of problems and solutions was provided to each host business.

Testing The Relationships Among Depression, Communication Competence, Relational Satisfaction, And Social Support, Rebecca Sue Devries

Masters Theses

The purpose of this thesis was to test the relationship between depression, communication competence (CC), and social support. This relationship is rooted in the premise that central to CC is one's ability to solicit and receive social support from interpersonal relationships in terms of 3 dimensions: assertiveness, responsiveness, and cognitive flexibility. It was hypothesized that depression is negatively associated to cognitive flexibility, and in tum the assertiveness and responsiveness CC dimensions are positively related to quality interpersonal relationships and the social support received from such relationships. Bivariate correlation results indicate the data are consistent with the predicted relationships between the …

Examining Restricted And Repetitive Behavior In Children With Autism: A Descriptive Study, Dawn Deann Detweiler

Masters Theses

This exploratory study examined the specific topographies and corresponding demographic information of restricted, repetitive and stereotyped behaviors, interests and activities of children with autism, and evaluated developmental differences between age groups. Previous literature has largely neglected this core feature of autism despite the need, and frequent call for such foundational data (Bodfish et al., 2000; Kennedy et al., 2000; Mercier et al., 2000; Turner, 1999). Participants included primary caregivers of 104 children who met DSM-IV-TR criteria for autism (American Psychiatric Association, 2000) and ranged in age from 3 to 7 years (M = 4. 7). The behaviors reported as occurring …

The Effectiveness Of Personal Data Assistants In Improving Daily Function Of Adults With Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, Connie Lee Budiwarman

Masters Theses

This study evaluated the effectiveness of using Personal Data Assistants to help with memory and/or organizational difficulties with adult patients who had survived mild Traumatic Brain Injury. Utilizing an AB single subject design method with a training period, one subject ultimately completed the study. The study demonstrated mixed results. Through the use of daily record sheets, the subject reported improvement in three areas of daily function but reported negative improvement in three areas of daily function. This study suggests, but does not completely support, the potential use of Personal Data Assistants with patients with Traumatic Brain Injury.

Evolution Of Leadership Theories, Ann M. Maslanka

Masters Theses

Evolution of Leadership Theories is a comprehensive study of leadership trends over the years, and in various contexts and theoretical foundations. This study presents the history of dominant leadership theories and research, beginning with the Great man thesis and Trait theory, to the Transformational and Transactional leadership styles to various leadership characteristics. This thesis also offers an example of how a current health care organization utilizes leadership knowledge through an employee satisfaction survey. The researcher took questions from an employee satisfaction survey that directly related to leadership and analyzed how questions as such are beneficial for improving employee job satisfaction. …

A Survey Of Lightning Safety Policy In Selected High Schools, Katie Groszek

Masters Theses

Our research will entail a survey of high school certified athletic trainers in the Great Lakes Athletic Trainers' Association (District 4) of the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) on lightning safety policy. The NATA has written a position statement (Walsh, 2000) on lightning safety to educate athletic trainers and other individuals on the dangers of lightning and safety guidelines to follow. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) also has lightning safety guidelines for the schools it governs. Despite the recommendations of the NAT A and NCAA, there has been a demonstrated lack of lightning safety policy. The purpose of this …

A Closer Look At Development Of Self-Awareness And Compensatory Strategy Use In Adults With Traumatic Brain Injury, Melissa A. Byrne

Masters Theses

My study investigates the development of self-awareness and use of compensatory strategies in eight adults with traumatic brain injuries using the Awareness Questionnaire (AQ) and three additional questions of descriptive nature. This study also examines whether or not the severity of brain injury (mild, moderate, severe) impacts the development of self-awareness. In addition, the spouses' perceptions of client awareness are compared to the relatives' to determine existence of potential variance.

Results indicate that while there is no significant difference in self-awareness_ between the mild and moderate groups, the severe group significantly varies from both the mild and moderate groups. Also, …

Preferences Of Chinese Alzheimer’S Patients For Music Therapy Activities: Singing, Instruments, Games, Dance/Movement, And Composition/Improvisation, Karen Kwok

Masters Theses

This research, based on Brotons and Pickett-Cooper’s 1994 study, examined the preferences of Chinese Alzheimer’s patients for music therapy activities. Fifteen Chinese senior residents residing in a Toronto, Canada ethnic nursing home participated in this study. Five different language and culturally appropriate music therapy activities were used, which included singing, dance/movement with music, musical games, instrument manipulation and improvisation/composition. Subjects met in small groups of 3 for a total of five 30-minute sessions in two weeks. During each session, one of the five music therapy activities was presented. At the end of each session, subjects were asked to state how …

Castles In The Crusader Kingdom Of Valencia, 1257-1276, Marius Nielsen

Masters Theses

For my thesis I proposed to study the registered charters of James I (1208-1276), King of Aragon, to examine how castles were distributed and utilized in the Crusader Kingdom of Valencia for the period 1257-1276. A little over two thousand register charters were issued for Valencia during this period. Around 250 of the two thousand charters mention castles indicating the importance of castles in the administration of the Crusader Kingdom of Valencia. Although there are many works on Western European castles the majority focus on castles in France, Britain and the Crusader States in the Middle East and rely on …

Slope Stability Analysis Of A Lake Michigan Coastal Bluff, Gregory Carlton Young

Masters Theses

Bluff failure along the Lake Michigan coast can be produced primarily by increased pore pressure from perched water tables above lacustrine clay deposits. To test this theory, a site in Allegan County, Michigan with alternating layers of sand, clay and glacial till was chosen for bluff failure monitoring. Historically, the site experiences sporadic massive failures as opposed to neighboring sites that show more regular and uniform displacements. Four pole and cable monitoring lines were measured bi-weekly from December 2001 to October 2003. Lake levels were low and no erosion of material at the base of the slope occurred. Slumps above …

Denying And Minimizing The Allegations: The Martha Stewart Scandal, Rebecca A. Schmidt

Masters Theses

This thesis studies the crisis management strategies employed by Martha Stewart as she responded to allegations surrounding her sale of ImClone stock in December 2001. Through rhetorical analysis, which utilizes the generic method of criticism, it examines Ms. Stewart's public responses to her crisis that were broadcast on television, printed in newspapers and magazines, and posted on Stewart's website, and found that she used primary strategies of denial and minimization. Finally, this thesis concludes that Ms. Stewart's responses are considered appropriate as they relate to the expectations of her audience as well as her attempt to repair her image and …

Influence Of The Palisades Nuclear Power Plant On Residential Housing Prices, Nicole N. Blodgett

Masters Theses

The controversy over the influence of nuclear power plants on property values is a continual debate among communities (Clark et al. 1997). I will be looking at a sample of 400 residential houses within a twelve-mile radius of the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in Covert, Michigan to see how the location of the plant influences the home sale price. Several structural, neighborhood, and demographic characteristics were complied for the analysis. In addition to these characteristics, distance to the plant, a visibility component, and a dummy variable to indicate all properties within a quarter mile from the Lake Michigan shoreline were …

The Applicability Of A Habitat Rating System For Low Gradient Streams In Wisconsin To Low Gradient Coldwater Streams In Northern Michigan, Eric Lawrence Forward

Masters Theses

Habitat and fish assemblage data were collected on 12 streams in northern Michigan to assess the applicability of a habitat rating system developed for low gradient streams in Wisconsin in determining stream health in low gradient coldwater streams in northern Michigan. An Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) developed for coldwater streams in the upper Midwest was used as the measure of stream health. Principal components analysis was used to select a small subset of habitat variables to describe the variation in IBI scores. The seven habitat variables chosen to describe the variation in IBI scores in the final model included: …

Current Practices, Preparation, And Demographics Of Music Therapists Working With School-Age Clients Who Have Severe, Profound, And Multiple Impairments, Erin Dalby

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine (a) which music therapy techniques may most effectively assist school-age clients with severe, profound, and multiple impairments to achieve certain goals; (b) assess whether music therapists currently feel that they were prepared to adequately serve the target population; and ( c) describe the demographics of music therapists who work with the target population. A researcher-designed questionnaire was completed by music therapists who served school-age clients who have severe/profound and multiple impairments. Results indicated that the use of singing and therapist-composed music were the most effective methods to develop nearly all types of …

White Rules, Black Stars: Race, Sport, Community, And The Emergence Of Integrated Boys' High School Basketball In Benton Harbor, Michigan, 1945-1965, Christopher Michael Jannings

Masters Theses

Located in the southwestern corner of the state in Berrien County, the city of Benton Harbor, Michigan rests along the shores of Lake Michigan, in the heart of the Fruit Belt, and near the St. Joseph River. Not until the early 1940s did a significant number of black migrants arrive from the South and larger metropolitan areas in the North to take advantage of a booming a wartime economy, higher paying jobs, and better living conditions. The growing black presence greatly altered the social, political, cultural, and economic structure of Benton Harbor. By the late 1950s and early 1960s the …

A Superintendent's Guide To A Successful Bond Proposal, Scott D. Mollenberndt

Masters Theses

For most school districts it has become increasingly difficult to gain voter support for bond referendums. In addition, there is little information available for the superintendent and board of education to reference when considering a bond campaign in their community.

In response to these concerns, "A Superintendent's Guide to a Successful Bond Proposal" was developed to provide campaign strategies, timelines and a sequential list of events for the superintendent to consider. Examples of campaign strategies employed by the Edwardsburg Public Schools, Edwardsburg, Michigan during their successful bond referendum are included as appendices throughout the guidebook.

Through this research, seven essential …

Intersections Of Race, Identity, And Co-Cultural Practices: A Qualitative Content Analysis Of A 'White Black Woman', Tammy Lynn Jeffries

Masters Theses

Notes of a White Black Woman by Judy Scales-Trent (1995) was the text used for this analysis and offered insight to the process of identity development, and the co-cultural communication practices of an African American woman whom others mistake as European American-a 'White Black Woman.' The basis for this body of research was embedded in the premise that co-cultural communication practices are intrinsically linked to the normal communication of the White Black person's identity development negotiation process. The initial exploration of this study began with explaining Kich's (1992) bi-racial identity model from a mono-racial perspective allowing for new interpretations of …

Cross-Layer Design Of A Dynamic Resource Allocation Control For The Next Multimedia Wireless Generation 1xev-Dv Systems, Mohamed Bourouha

Masters Theses

1xEV-DV has been proposed as one of the standards of the next MultimediaWire- less Generation (MWG) systems, which adopts new techniques to enhance wireless data Quality of Service (QoS). Despite the recent research efforts in mapping QoS pa- rameters cross the different layers, there is still no cross layer QoS design that focuses in providing QoS assurances in the 1xEV-DV. Moreover, many possible combinations of resource parameters have been specified in the current standard. However, there are no specifications about the dynamic resource allocation. In this thesis, a suite of Cross Layer Multiuser Diversity Modules are proposed. These modules include …

Job Satisfaction In Nonprofit Organizations: The Factors That Influence Employee Job Satisfaction At Goodwill Industries Of Greater Grand Rapids, Inc., Andrea L. Speers

Masters Theses

Research shows there are several variables that influence employee job satisfaction, including salary, benefits, job tasks, autonomy and independence, relationships with supervisors and coworkers, communication from management, vacation time, and professional development opportunities. Nonprofit organizations face increased challenges with employee job satisfaction issues because they lack the budget to be competitive with for-profit organizations in terms of salary and benefits.

For the purpose of this study, the researcher defines "hard" variables as those that are concrete and can be measured, including salary and benefits, and “soft” variables as those that are less measurable and more relational in nature, including relationships …

Determination Of Effective Non-Preemptive Load Balancing Policies, Murali Rajagopalan

Masters Theses

We propose to analyze the effectiveness of various non-preemptive Load Balancing Policies that are available in Distributed Computing Systems. The result of the analysis demonstrates the usage of various policies and determining a policy that is effective in the given set of problems. It is not about proposing a new distributed algorithm or distributed system policy. However, it has implemented a prototype software lab comprising various policies to determine the effectiveness of existing load balancing policies. There are several programs implemented to test the lab and to generate data to analyze the effectiveness of the distributed policies.

The prototype software …

Scapegoating As An Organizational Escape From Crisis: A Case Study Of Merrill Lynch, Jennifer D. Brown

Masters Theses

This thesis examines the use of scapegoating as a communication strategy by Merrill Lynch during the 2000's. Using a rhetorical method, it explores the nature of crises and the image restoration attempt by corporations. Finally, it draws a number of conclusions about how organizations should respond to crises communicatively and ethically.

The Lesbian Connection: The Negotiation Of Individualism In A Unique Community, Emily E. Lenning

Masters Theses

This research explores the issue of how individualism is situated within and expressed through a progressive, alternative, and constitutive community. The Lesbian Connection, a lesbian owned and operated publication, will be considered as it relates to the individual-focused dialogue that recent radical theorists claim to be of great importance to the formation of "ideal" communities. Content analysis will be used to investigate how lesbians choose to shape their own community identity while maintaining a sense of personal individualism. Additional attention will be afforded to how lesbians use interaction through text to shape community norms and identify common goals.

Dietary Exposure To Aroclor 1254 Impairs Radial Arm Maze Acquisition And Performance In Rats, Danielle M. Paris-Larson

Masters Theses

Exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) is suspected to produce long lasting cognitive deficits in children and adults. This study assessed the effects of dietary exposure to a commercial mixture of PCBs on spatial learning and memory in Fisher 344 rats. Aroclor 1254 (0, 10, 50 ppm) was administered for 28 consecutive days in the daily diet. Seven days after the last dietary exposure, acquisition training began in an eight-arm radial maze. Following 28 days of acquisition training, "working" memory was assessed using a delayed win/shift procedure. Each delay (20 minutes, 2 hours, and 6 hours) was examined on three consecutive …

Visual-Motor Integration Skills Impact On Handwriting, Amber M. Kapnick

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to evaluate if a visual-motor integration intervention improved handwriting legibility and visual-motor integration in first grade students as measured by the Minnesota Handwriting Test (MHT) and the Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration (VMI). Intervention was based on sensory-motor learning theories. Sixty-six children from four first grade classrooms in a suburban elementary school were randomly assigned to an intervention or a control condition. The intervention group received eight weeks of visual-motor integration training twice a week for 30 minute sessions. The control group received regular academic instruction. All children were tested on the Minnesota Handwriting …

An African American Cultural Critique Of Weight, Race, Gender And Class Using A Semiotic Analysis Of Queen Latifah’ S Film Roles, Angela Denise Prater

Masters Theses

This project examined the interconnectedness of race, gender, class and the physical body as interrelated marginalization factors in media representations. Using the feminist body image literature, critical/cultural theory and Black feminist thought this study examined the significance of weight as a marginalization variable interdependent with race, gender and class. The motion picture character portrayals of the iconic figure Queen Latifah are subjected to a semiotics analysis, a traditional method in critical cultural studies to examine media representations. This analysis is informed by the cultural standpoint of the author as an overweight African American female. This study revealed that Queen Latifah's …

Dialectics In Mother-Child Relationships Among First-Generation Asian Indian Women In The United States, Chitra Akkoor

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of Asian Indian immigrant women raising children in the U.S. as value contradictions between Asian Indian culture and U.S. culture. Relational dialectics in parent-child relationships among Asian Indian immigrant women and their children was also explored using the dialectcial perspective. Participants for the study were 20 Asian Indian women chosen randomly from the Kalamazoo-Battle Creek (MI) AI community who participated in one-one-interviews. Results of the study showed that participants experienced value contradictions in child-rearing. All four contradictions addressed in research on relational dialectics were also discovered in the context of …