Digital Commons Network^™

Annual Report Fiscal Year July 1, 2009-June 30, 2010, Tennessee. Department Of Children's Services.

Department of Children's Services

No abstract provided.

Have You Put On Weight? A Study On The Effects Of Certain Factors On The Increased Presence Of Eating Disorders In Modern Chinese Women, Kelli Michele Beard

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Social Support And Gender Effects On Academic Confidence In Foster Youth, Carolyn Suzanne Gillard

Master's Theses

Finding the predictors for academic success is critical for foster youth to become productive citizens as adults. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of social support in the academic confidence of transitional foster youth. Because the literature suggests men and women benefit from social support differentially, I also examined gender as the moderating variable for social support and academic confidence. A sample of 82 foster youth (15-18 years old) from San Joaquin County's Human Service Agency volunteered to participate. Participants were given the Student Perceived Availability of Social Support Questionnaire (SPASSQ) to assess their perceptions of …

Vol. 40, No. 1: Title Page, Denver Journal Of International Law & Policy

Denver Journal of International Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Vol. 41, No. 1: Full Issue, Denver Journal Of International Law & Policy

Denver Journal of International Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Northeastern Illinois University, 2011-2012 Academic Catalog, "Be Connected, Be Informed, Be Yourself", Northeastern Illinois University

Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Prestigious Exhibit Spotlights Pressley's Work, Dick Anderson

Furman Magazine

No abstract provided.

The Elder Economic Security Initiative™: The Elder Economic Security Standard™ Index For Iowa, Gerontology Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston, Wider Opportunities For Women

Gerontology Institute Publications

This report addresses income adequacy for Iowa’s older adults using the national WOW-GI National Elder Economic Security Standard Index (Elder Index) methodology. The Elder Index benchmarks basic costs of living for elder households and illustrates how costs of living vary geographically and are based on the characteristics of elder households, including household size, home ownership or renter status and health status. The costs are based on market costs for basic needs of elder households and do not assume any public or private supports.

The Elder Economic Security Initiative™: The Elder Economic Security Standard™ Index For Colorado, Gerontology Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston, Wider Opportunities For Women

Gerontology Institute Publications

This report addresses income adequacy for Colorado’s older adults using the national WOW-GI National Elder Economic Security Standard Index (Elder Index) methodology. The Elder Index benchmarks basic costs of living for elder households and illustrates how costs of living vary geographically and are based on the characteristics of elder households, including household size, home ownership or renter status and health status. The costs are based on market costs for basic needs of elder households and do not assume any public or private supports.

Probation Officer Role Orientation, Helping Alliance, And Probationer Readiness For Change:The Impact On Juvenile Offender Recidivism, Wendy E. Wild

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

The aim of the present study was to investigate the individual and collective influences of officer role orientation, the helping alliance, and probationer readiness for change on the reduction of recidivism rates among juvenile offenders. Archival data from a sample of 33 officers and 314 juvenile probationers were examined. Data included an officer demographic form, a probationer demographic and recidivism form, the Subjective Role Orientation and Strategy Scale, the Dual Role Inventory-Revised Probationer Version, and the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment. Results demonstrated that the sample of probation officers overwhelmingly adopted a balanced approach to supervision. This limited a …

Best Practice In Working With The Somali Population, Ilhan Duale

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Since the early 1990s, the state of Minnesota has had an unprecedented increase in refugees from Somalia. These individuals have emigrated from a war-zone country and arrived in the United States with a range of trauma-related injuries and mental health issues. As a result, Somali individuals and families who have migrated to the United States will require physical and mental health support. There is, however, a lack of research on effective interventions with Somali individuals and families. With the stigma that surrounds mental health and negative cultural views of mental health in the Somali population, practitioners at Comunidades Latinas Unidas …

Natural Connections: A Recommendation To Implement An Animal Assisted Therapy (Aat) Program Within The Shakopee Mdewakantonsioux Community, Heidi Simon

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Currently the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community does not have an Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) program. The purpose of this project was to research AAT programs that exist in First Nation Communities. The ultimate goal was to present evidence to support the implementation of a culturally based AAT program into the current mental health model within the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community. The Animal Assisted Therapeutic Learning (ATTL) program would incorporate traditional beliefs with contemporary ways of life in regard to healing and mental health.

Diversity Within Bachelor Of Social Work Programs: Perspectives And Interventions, Brian Warner

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Diversity is a term that has become increasingly relevant in the field of social work. Perhaps there is no other sector of the social work profession where diversity is more relevant than in higher education. With the ever changing ethnic and racial make-up of the United States, it is imperative that social work educators are able to convey the differences and/or challenges that working with diverse individuals will present. One of the easiest and most direct ways for this to occur is for the student body itself to be diverse. Yet, many social work programs have remained ethnically and racially …

The Power Of Service Work: Developing A Consumer Volunteer Program For The House Of Hope, Inc., Darcy Wennes

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

House of Hope, Inc. (HOH) is a rural residential chemical dependency treatment center serving adults over the age of 18. HOH is a non-profit non-sectarian agency. Many clients at HOH have a dual diagnosis of chemical dependency and mental illness. Consumers at HOH are encouraged to volunteer, but are given limited support to do so. They have several hours in their day where there is no programming, and many consumers feel bored and unproductive. The literature suggests that there is a relationship between volunteer work carried out by consumers and their personal feelings of empowerment (Cohen, 2009) . Consumers’ feelings …

Mechanisms Linking Violence Exposure And School Engagement Among African American Adolescents: Examining The Roles Of Psychological Problem Behaviors And Gender, Dexter R. Voisin

Faculty Scholarship

This study examines whether the relationship between violence exposure and school engagement is mediated by psychological problem behaviors and whether such relationships are gendered. Five hundred and sixty-three high school African American adolescents (ages 13-19 years) completed questionnaires that assessed two types of violence exposure (community violence and marital conflict), psychological problem behaviors (e.g., posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, anxiety, withdrawal, and aggressive behaviors), and school engagement (i.e., student-teacher connectedness and grade point average [GPA] obtained from school records). For male adolescents, psychological problem behaviors collectively mediated the relationship between community violence exposure and student-teacher connectedness. For female adolescents, both community …

A Case Study: Understanding The Bridges Program Through The Lens Of Stakeholders, Marion Elizabeth Platt

Dissertations

This study is intended to provide the reader with a comprehensive understanding of a school based mental health program, Bridges, from the perspective of stakeholders; those invested in the continuation of the program. Bridges was developed in 2005 in response to a growing need to provide transitioning services for adolescents returning to a public high school subsequent to a psychiatric hospitalization or prolonged absence. The program was designed for a very specific population in a specific high school on the North Shore of Chicago. Because of the uniqueness of the population and programming, qualitative case study analysis was employed to …

A Positive Psychological Approach To Student Impairment: A Model For Schools, Jessica M. Kajfasz

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Despite increasing interest in the issue of clinician impairment over the past 25 years, relatively little research has been conducted regarding the occurrence and management of impairment during the predoctoral and trainee stages of clinical psychology education. This is a particularly notable gap in the literature, given the unique stressors associated with that stage of professional development that may make students and trainees especially vulnerable to impairment. Failing to properly address this issue at an institutional level can present training programs with a variety of potential problems, including legal repercussions, resource drain, impact upon the overall student body, and possible …

Assessing Personality In The Dsm-5: The Utility Of Bipolar Constructs., Douglas B. Samuel

Department of Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications

All previous editions of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) have described and assessed personality solely in terms of pathological categories. Nonetheless, there is compelling evidence that normal-range personality traits also provide clinically useful information, emphasizing the importance of thoroughly assessing both adaptive and maladaptive aspects of personality within a clinical context. The proposed inclusion of a dimensional trait model in the upcoming DSM-5 represents an important shift in the understanding of personality pathology and provides an ideal opportunity to integrate the assessment of normal personality into clinical practice. Building upon research conceptualizing personality …

The Investment Model Of Commitment Processes, Caryl E. Rusbult, Christopher Agnew, Ximena Arriaga

Department of Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications

The investment model of commitment processes is rooted in interdependence theory and emerged from the broader scientific zeitgeist of the 1960s and 1970s that sought to understand seemingly irrational persistence in social behavior. The investment model was developed originally to move social psychology beyond focusing only on positive affect in predicting persistence in a close interpersonal relationship. As originally tested, the investment model holds that commitment to a target is influenced by three independent factors: satisfaction level, quality of alternatives, and investment size. Commitment, in turn, is posited to mediate the effects of these three bases of dependence on behavior, …

What Works In Work-First Welfare: Designing And Managing Employment Programs In New York City, Andrew R. Feldman

Upjohn Press

This book is a case study of how New York City's welfare-to-work programs were managed and implemented in the mid 2000s. Feldman also analyzes the unique characteristics that differentiate it from other programs in place across the country.

Rhetorical Outcomes: A Genre Analysis Of Student Service-Learning Writing, Thomas Brady Trimble

Wayne State University Dissertations

Service-learning continues to be a popular pedagogical approach within composition studies. Despite a number of studies that document a range of positive impacts on students, faculty, institutions, and community members, the relationship between service-learning and student writing outcomes is not well understood. This study presents the results of a genre analysis of student-authored ethnographies composed in four distinct sections of a service-learning--based intermediate writing course at a Midwestern urban research university. Results of the analysis are then used to develop a contextualized writing assessment framework to evaluate student writing outcomes and to consider the implications of using contemporary genre theory …

Women And The High School Principalship: Metropolitan Detroit Principals' And Superintendents' Perceptions Regarding Barriers And Facilitators For Job Attainment, Heidi Schnabel Kattula

Wayne State University Dissertations

WOMEN AND THE HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPALSHIP:

METROPOLITAN DETROIT PRINCIPALS' AND SUPERINTENDENTS' PERCEPTIONS REGARDING BARRIERS AND FACILITATORS

FOR JOB ATTAINMENT

by

HEIDI SCHNABEL KATTULA

2011

Advisor: Dr. Michael Addonizio

Major: Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

Degree: Doctor of Education

Through multivariate analysis, this study determined if there was a significant difference between the perceptions of men and women high school principals and superintendents in Metropolitan Detroit regarding barriers and facilitators for women who aspire to gain a position as a public high school principal in Michigan. Gender and other variables that may influence perceptions of high schools principals within Michigan's Oakland, …

Can The Leopard Change His Spots?! Reflections On The 'Collaborative Law' Revolution And Collaborative Advocacy, Dafna Lavi

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

Much has been written about the social contribution of the ADR movement, and the many and diverse ways to implement it. This article focuses on collaborative law, one of the newer methods adopted by this movement, and observes that the full impact and implications of this movement have not yet been explored. One of the compelling implications discussed in this article is the collaborative law revolution.

This article presents both the observable and latent aspects of this revolution. According to this article, the main contribution of the revolution is in signaling a change in the design and conceptualization of the …

The Role Of Web 2.0 And Social Media Community In Education As A Form Of Teacher Personal Professional Development, Brandi Evans Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Teachers are facing greater technological demands. They are expected to use and teach their students to use various forms of collaborative technology (Partnership for 21st Century Learning, 2010). Personal professional development is professional development that teachers seek on their own, strictly on a voluntary basis, so that they can meet the needs of their students or address issues that are unique to their classroom. This study used a survey to examine the relationship between how teachers’ reported using social media community in education for personal professional development and the criteria for effective professional development, teachers’ integration practices, teachers’ frequency of …

The Role Of Mental Health Professionals In Cases Of Child Sexual Abuse As Seen Through The Eyes Of Judges, S. Lynn Etheridge

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The involvement of Mental Health Professionals (MHPs) in cases of child sexual abuse (CSA) is complex and intimidating. There are legal rules and academic suggestions to guide the MHP in this endeavor, but in experience, these rules and suggestions are lacking. Current literature and research indicates that there is little if any direct knowledge on how judges perceive MHPs who testify before them in court. A qualitative phenomenological inquiry that directly interviefive judges about their perceptions of MHPs in cases of CSA was undertaken. The results indicate that MHPs should be more intentional about their choices regarding involvement in court, …

Nonprofit Capacity: A Comparative Case Study Of Capacity Building In Community-Based Organizations, Valerie K. Wright

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand the relationship between capacity-building activities and the capacity found in community-based organizations. This qualitative study examined the impact of capacity-building activities such as board development, staff training, fundraising, and leadership development to understand what factors were present and if they increased the level of capacity. The literature revealed that little to no agreement exists in the field of capacity building around the frameworks for successful development of capacity in community-based organizations. This subgroup of nonprofits was rarely identified as such in the literature. Definitions of capacity building can be summed up as …

Evaluation Of Need And Feasibility Of Tuberculosis Screening In Buprenorphine Treatment Programs, Ryan Schwarz

Yale Medicine Thesis Digital Library

Background: Buprenorphine's availability in primary care settings offers increased access to treatment and linkage to primary care for opioid-dependent patients. Currently, tuberculin skin testing (TST) is recommended for patients enrolling in methadone maintenance treatment (MMT), but not for those enrolling in buprenorphine maintenance treatment (BMT).

Objectives: To compare TST screening results in enrollees in BMT and MMT programs and assess the correlates of TST positivity among these subjects.

Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of a retrospective cohort study was conducted to compare concurrent TST results among contemporaneously matched groups of MMT and BMT patients in the same community.

Results: TST positivity …

Patient Refusal Of Physician: Institutional Awareness And Hospital Leaders' Perspectives, Natalie Spicyn

Yale Medicine Thesis Digital Library

Patient refusal of physician (PRoP) refers to instances in which a patient refuses to be cared for by a given physician because of the physician's socio-demographic characteristics, such as gender, age, race/ethnicity, religion, national origin, or perceived sexual orientation. Minority physicians experience PRoP more often than non-minority physicians, and thus PRoP may become a growing concern as the healthcare workforce diversifies. Little is known, however, about hospital leadership awareness of and response to these circumstances. This study aims to describe the proportion of teaching hospitals with formal guidance on PRoP and to characterize hospital leaders' perspectives on addressing this issue. …

Psychometric Evaluation Of A Proposed, Alzheimer's Aggression Scale, Kristina Little

LSU Master's Theses

Aggressive behavior is a common symptom of mid- to late-stage Alzheimer’s disease, causing unique challenges for caregivers and healthcare professionals. In previous research, aggressive behavior related to dementia was linked to higher caregiver distress and burden. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of an aggressive behavior subscale of the Revised Memory and Behavior Problem Checklist (RMBPC) among Alzheimer’s disease caregivers. The subscale measures the frequency of aggressive behavior and the caregiver’s reaction. The sample consisted of 419 caregivers reporting some frequency of aggressive behavior by the care recipient. Exploratory factor analysis was favorable. Convergent validity …

More Similar Than Different? Exploring Cultural Models Of Depression Among Latino Immigrants In Florida, Dinorah Martinez Tyson, Heide Castaneda, Milagro Porter, Marisel Quiroz, Iraida Carrion

Anthropology Faculty Publications

The Surgeon General's report, “Culture, Race, and Ethnicity: A Supplement to Mental Health,” points to the need for subgroup specific mental health research that explores the cultural variation and heterogeneity of the Latino population. Guided by cognitive anthropological theories of culture, we utilized ethnographic interviewing techniques to explore cultural models of depression among foreign-born Mexican (), Cuban (), Columbian (), and island-born Puerto Ricans (), who represent the largest Latino groups in Florida. Results indicate that Colombian, Cuban, Mexican, and Puerto Rican immigrants showed strong intragroup consensus in their models of depression causality, symptoms, and treatment. We found more agreement …