Digital Commons Network^™

Testing An Ecological Model Of Parent Involvement In Head Start: A Replication Study, Rebecca C. Horwitz

Theses and Dissertations

Parent involvement has been understood to elicit positive outcomes for school-age children, especially minority children and children from low socioeconomic families. Understanding the process by which parents engage in their child’s education may provide school staff with tools to develop interventions to increase parent involvement.

This investigation replicates a study that tested an ecological model of parent involvement in two Head Start programs (Waanders, 2002). Participants in the current study were 213 parents and/or caregivers of children who attended three Head Start programs in South Carolina. Two of the programs were located in a medium-sized city, while the third was …

Mind-Craft: Exploring The Relation Between "Digital" Visual Experience And Orientation In Visual Contour Perception, Daniel Hipp

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

Visual perception depends fundamentally on statistical regularities in the environment to make sense of the world. One such regularity is the orientation anisotropy typical of natural scenes; most natural scenes contain slightly more horizontal and vertical information than oblique information. This property is likely a primary cause of the “oblique effect” in visual perception, in which subjects experience greater perceptual fluently with horizontally and vertically oriented content than oblique. However, recent changes in the visual environment, including the “carpentered” content in urban scenes and the framed, caricatured content in digital screen media presentations, may have altered the level of orientation …

"Good Enough" Nanny : Socioeconomic Disparity And Power In The Nanny-Employer Dyad, Carolyn M. Moody

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

Because nannies are typically of lower socioeconomic status than their employers, unique power dynamics develop in the relationships between parents and secondary caregivers. This empirical study explored childcare providers' experiences of these dynamics by examining how similarity and difference in the nanny-employer dyad impacted the employer's management style. Sample. The quantitative, exploratory method utilized an anonymous online questionnaire to reach a broad sample of current and former nannies (N=167). Methods. Demographic data on participants' and employers' socioeconomic identities were collected and compared with management style indicators. Findings. The results suggested that similarity and difference in the dyad, both relational and …

Advice Giving In Online Eating Disorder Forums : What Clinical Social Workers Need To Know, Elizabeth C. Reali

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This qualitative, exploratory, descriptive study expanded the limited existing research on online eating disorder forums by examining the thematic content of advice giving on three different types of online eating disorder forums: 1) professional-operated, pro-recovery forums; 2) peer-operated, pro-recovery forums; and 3) peer-operated, pro-eating disorder forums. Additionally, the study sought to elucidate the comparative relationships amongst different forums between advice content, aims, and accuracy and key forum characteristics, such as forums' missions and methods of moderation. Two publicly available websites for each forum type were studied. From these, a total of 60 advice messages consisting of 91 advice units were …

The Work Of André Green : An Introduction, Louis Scuderi

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

André Green was a French psychoanalyst whose work represents a unique contribution to the fields of theoretical, clinical, and applied psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic social work. Little has been written about him in English, however. In this study, Green's overarching theoretical project is reviewed, in addition to some of his major concepts and their clinical implications. Green's relationship to French psychoanalysis is outlined, as well as his relationship to his major influences: Winnicott, Bion, Lacan, and most importantly, Freud. Green's conceptions of the drives, narcissism, and the work of the negative are discussed in detail, and his work is situated in …

Social Work And Human Sexuality : An Examination Of The Country's Top 25-Cwse Ranked Msw Curricula, Hannah R. Wineburg

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

Graduate students of social work seek education and training to increase their competency to practice in dynamic, multicultural environments that allow them to help diverse clients with a multitude of mental health and sociological related issues. Moreover, social work programs have long been known for teaching students to be agents of change, in particular preparing social workers to effectively and ethically enhance the wellbeing and productivity of an increasingly diverse client base. This often translates into confronting oppressive systems that uphold traditional policies and practices in areas such as race, class, gender identity, and human sexuality. How are social work …

Trans* Individuals' Experiences With Employment Discrimination : Supporting Self-Efficacy In The Job-Seeking Process, Matthew S. Meurer-Lynn

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

Transgender and gender non-conforming individuals are often the subject of blatant and covert discrimination when seeking employment and studies demonstrate the negative effects on mental health. The research question for this study was: How can social workers best support trans* clients who are in the process of searching for employment, build self-efficacy and overcome psychological barriers that have developed as a result of oppression and discrimination? This qualitative study of seven trans* individuals provides examples of discrimination as experienced by the participants, examines the effects discrimination has on mental health and self-efficacy, and provides social workers with recommendations for supporting …

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder : Experiences Of Diagnosis, Treatment, And Management By African American Caregivers, Lydie H. Gnacadja

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

According to the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders 5th edition, attention-deficit disorder is a childhood disorder in which symptoms of hyperactivity, inattention, and/or impulsivity are present for at least six months and must be present prior to a child turning12 years old (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Gapin and Etnier (2013) stated the following, ADHD "is one of the leading childhood psychiatric disorders in America and is a costly major public health problem" (p. 1). There is limited research on African American caregiver experiences (Miller, Nigg and Miller, 2009) and social workers would benefit by being familiar with African …

The Power Of Play : A Theoretical Study Of Play, The Self, And The Public School, Rebecca G. Medrano

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

The objective of this theoretical study was to examine how the decrease of play in early childhood education is affecting the developmental process of the child. Noted implications for the lack of play in schools included a decrease in creative thinking and imagination in childhood, an increase in ADHD and depression in children, an increase in preschool expulsions, an increase in special education services, and disparities in access to play for children of color and children living in poverty. A theoretical framework was used to examine the intersection between play, the school environment, and the developing child. The analysis utilized …

It Takes A Village : Exploring African American Women's Experiences With Collective Identity, Racism, And Well-Being, Lyana M. Murrel

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This qualitative study sought to explore African American women's understandings about collective identity in their lives and, specifically, in their encounters with racism that impacted their well-being. African American women hold rich traditions of healing that encompass their communities and are influenced by their early bonds of sisterhood. In the United States of America, these traditions of connectedness between Black folks have supported Black women, communities, and families against the pressures of racist domination. Ten self-identified African American women between the ages of 34 and 69 shared rich narratives about how they experienced a collective sense of self, racism, and …

Settled Debate Or Second Wave? : Clinical Social Workers' Roles In Treatment With Youth Who Take Adhd Drugs, Rachel B. Reed

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

The purpose of this exploratory study was to gain a deeper understanding of social workers' roles in treating children who take attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drugs. The study used semi-structured in-person and telephone interviews with twelve licensed clinical social workers to gather qualitative data about their experiences with children and families of children diagnosed with ADHD and their reflections on their roles in treatment, in particular those regarding medication prescribed to mitigate the child's ADHD symptoms. The findings suggested that social workers experienced difficulty teasing out ADHD from issues known to commonly co-occur as well as from a history of …

Mothers Experiencing Homelessness : An Exploratory Study On Parental Involvement In Children's Education And Perceived Barriers To Involvement :, Marla G. Maccia

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This qualitative exploratory study examines the experience of mothers that are homeless with school-age children. The primary research questions were: What is the level of parental involvement of homeless mothers in their children's education? What are the perceived barriers to their involvement? The study was conducted using semi-structured open-ended interviews of eight women that were homeless with at least one school-age child. Study results indicated that level of parental involvement varied depending on the specific temporary living situation of the participant, in addition to her demographics and history of homelessness. Parental involvement was low not due to perceived stigma but …

Ecotherapists' Perceptions About The Efficacy Of Their Work, Fiona C. Lundy

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This qualitative, exploratory study sought to answer the question, what do ecotherapists think makes their nature-based therapy (NBT) work effective and for whom? Twelve American mental health clinicians who practice NBT's (including animal-assisted therapy (AAT), horticultural therapy (HT), nature-reconnection practices (NRP's), and wilderness therapy (WT)) regularly in their professional work were recruited using snowball sampling. Semi-structured interviews revealed that practitioners explain NBTs' effectiveness by citing the biological, psychological, spiritual, and therapeutic power of the natural world, the different ways that NBT's are structured, and additional factors that are unknown. Participants shared varied views about whom ecotherapies best serve; some stated …

An Exploratory Study On Mental Health Service Experience And Its Perceived Impact On Young Adults Transitioning Out Of Foster Care, Sonia Lizette Aldape

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This qualitative study explores the self-reported perspectives of thirteen transitional aged (18-24 years old) current and former foster youth on their experiences with mental health services. This study fills a gap in mental health research that lacks substantial literature on the experiences of foster youth transitioning out of care, effectiveness of their mental health services and of foster youth's voices as consumers. This study aims to inform practice for clinicians and social workers referring or providing mental health services to current and or former foster youth. Clinicians and social workers can use their positions to provide and advocate for accessible …

Fostering Positive Identity Development In Adolescents : Beneficial Aspects Of Learning At The Putney School, Leah King

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This study investigated the ways in which learning environments foster positive identity development in adolescents. For the purpose of this study, positive identity development was defined by self-esteem, self-control, and resilience. The study utilized a single-system design to extract a data subset from The Putney School's previously administered 7 wave longitudinal study and measured specific data points related to self-esteem, self-control, and resilience. The survey results of 65 four-year seniors who graduated between 2012 and 2014 from The Putney School, a progressive, co-educational boarding school in New England, were analyzed. No significant change was found for self-esteem, self-control, and resilience …

The Role Of A Mother's Childhood Trauma In Parenting Her Child On The Autism Spectrum : A Case Study, Bryannyagara Q. Barboza

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This single case study explored the experiences of a white, middle class, lesbian, single mother, with history of childhood trauma, raising her child on the autism spectrum. This was a qualitative exploratory study with semi-structured interviews as a way to collect data. The participant mother was interviewed a total of four times, one hour each interview. The interviews took place at public and private spaces, (e.g., public library, museums, coffee shops etc.). Due to unfinished data collection and the limitations present in the study, the results are inconclusive. Although the current literature on parenting children with a diagnosis other than …

The Challenge Of Moral Difference : A Theoretical Investigation Of Encounters With A Client's Capacity For Violence, Sarah K. Brady

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

Clinical social workers face an ethical imperative to work with a range of clients, some of whom will undoubtedly espouse views and confess to violent behavior that will differ, sometimes profoundly, with the worker's own personal moral compass and the values of the social work profession. How are clinical social workers to navigate the potential impasses that arise from such encounters? This theoretical thesis explores the dilemma of engaging with a client whose morality is experienced by the worker as untenable. It draws on two bodies of theory, moral anthropology and relational psychoanalysis—both of which emphasize contingency, circumstance, and the …

Smith College School For Social Work Graduate Students' Attitudes, Behaviors, And Experiences Concerning Religion And Spirituality In Social Work Practice And Social Work Education, Candice Light

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This study explored Smith School for Social Work students' overall attitudes towards the role of religion and spirituality in social work practice. The study examined the extent to which content of religion and spirituality have been included in students' education as well as how satisfied and prepared students feel in addressing these issues in practice. Lastly, this study explored students' attitudes, behaviors, and experiences concerning alternative conceptions of religious and spiritual factors in their understanding of mental illness. Fifty-nine students from the graduating classes of 2014-2016 who had clinical experience were recruited through social media to complete an online survey. …

Content And Metaphor : Making Meaning Of Voices, Emma P. Gabriner

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how people who hear voices have learned to cope with their voices, and how they attribute the function or role of the voice(s) in their lives. This thesis asked whether traumatic, lived experiences are related to the content of voices. This study used a narrative-inquiry approach to speak with nine adults about their experiences hearing voices. The interview questionnaire was adapted from the Maastricht Interview and Construct (Escher and Romme, 2000). Participants were interviewed in person or over the phone. The recovery model was the theoretical basis for this study. This …

The Coming Out Process : An Exploratory Study Of Famiies With More Than One Lgbq Sibling, Kimberly Dasso

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

The purpose of this study was to explore families in which there are more than one Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Queer identified sibling, specifically looking at the coming out process as influenced by another LGBQ sibling. Twelve semi-structured, exploratory interviews were conducted with six sibling sets, aimed at exploring the perceived impact of having a LGBQ sibling with regards to revealing one's sexual identity. All of the participants in this study reported experiencing some level of anxiety and/or fear before coming out, regardless of having an LGBQ sibling. The majority of participants in this study reported feeling closer to their …

The Emergency Department As A Holding Environment : Using Object Relations Theory And Institutional Transference To Explore Schizophrenia And Emergency Department Overuse, Caroline B. Schnell

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

The purpose of this study was to explore if object relations theory and institutional transference can help explain why some people with schizophrenia overuse the emergency department (ED). Since deinstitutionalization, and the implementation of managed care, high utilization of the ED by people with mental illnesses has become an important, and controversial topic within medical and mental health settings. High utilization negatively impacts both ED staff members, and people with schizophrenia. Specifically, this study examined this phenomenon through the lens of object relations theory, and institutional transference. Object relations theory contributed to an understanding of social relationships in schizophrenia, and …

Expectations In Committed Relationships, Amanda R. White

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This study sought to identify trends in American expectations regarding commitment, marriage, monogamy, cohabitation, child rearing, and domestic responsibilities in committed relationships and explored the ways expectations differed based on gender, generation, income, and US region. A committed relationship was defined as an interpersonal romantic relationship based upon a mutually agreed-upon commitment to one another regarding certain behavior and lifestyle choices. The different generations that were compared fall into the following year brackets: Boomers (1943-1960), Generation X (1961-1981), and Millennials (1982-2004). Two hundred and ninety-four participants completed an online, anonymous survey that collected basic demographic information including gender, sexual orientation, …

"The Most Badass Thing I'Ve Ever Done" : Experiences Of Transgender And Gender Non-Conforming Birth Parents, Lauren Ambrosini

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

To most people, the ability to carry and bear children is one that is inextricably linked with femininity and womanhood. However, some individuals who gestate and give birth to a child do not identify as women or as feminine. At the forefront of disentangling these two concepts from pregnancy and birth are gender non-conforming individuals, including masculine identified women, transgender men, and folks who identify as outside the gender binary of man/woman, who have chosen to carry and bear children. Beyond the narratives of a few well known transmen (e.g., Thomas Beatie) and masculine-of-center lesbians (e.g., A.K. Summers) who have …

Microrna Mediated Negative Regulation Of Caveolin-1 As A Biological Mechanism Driving Breast Cancer Disparities, Brooke D. King

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

In South Carolina, mortality differences between African American (AA) and Caucasian-American (CA) women with breast cancer are amongst the highest in the country. Increasing evidence suggests that the racial disparity exists independent of socioeconomic and standard of care issues and could also be attributed to poorly understood inherent genetic and molecular characteristics within racial specific tumors. Caveolin-1 (Cav1) is a scaffolding protein with a tumor suppressor role. Loss of Cav1 in the tumor stromal compartment has emerged as a novel biomarker for predicting poor clinical outcome in all of the most common subtypes of breast cancer. While the loss of …

Impact Of Estrogen Receptor Alpha Signaling On Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells In Systemic Lupus Erythematous, Jennifer L. Scott

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

Female lupus prone NZM2410 estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) functionally deficient (ERαKO) mice are protected from renal disease and have prolonged survival compared to wild type (WT) littermates, however the mechanism of protection is unknown. Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) and type I interferon (IFN) drive lupus pathogenesis and estrogen acting via ERα enhances both pDC development and IFN production. The objectives for this work were to determine if ERα modulates pDC number, maturation, or function in pre-disease NZM2410 mice as a possible protective mechanism of ERα functional deficiency in lupus prone mice. We measured the effect of ERα functional deficiency on …

Developing A Protocol For The Treatment Of Transitioning Adolescents : A Survey Of Gender Clinics In The United States, Elise Lehotsky

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

The goal of this descriptive study is to determine what is common practice for endocrine intervention with adolescents diagnosed with GD or seeking treatment related to gender identity. The study surveyed gender clinics in the United States that work with adolescent clients. Gender clinics are defined by this study to be one or more providers who work with adolescents to actualize their gender identity. Twenty gender clinics completed a mixed method survey that asked them to describe basic demographics of their clinic, what recommendations they utilize to influence their treatment protocols, if and how mental health is involved in treatment, …

In The Space Of The Father : Father Images, Emptiness, And Father Mirroring In Father Absent Men, Frank P. Tisano

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This is an empirical, psychoanalytic inquiry designed to uncover what exists in the space for "father" when men grow up father absent. I interviewed 10 father absent men to find out how they conceptualized their personal representations of father and whether the conjured images played a material role in their lives. In light of the interviews, I contend that, regardless of circumstance, intrapsychic space exists for father. Building on Green (2004), I argue that father absent men have a combination of positive and negative space for father. Positive space is filled principally with directly experienced memories, and stories as recounted …

Hobby Lobby, Birth Control And Our Ongoing Cultural Wars: Pleasure And Desire In The Crossfires, Robin West

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Both sides of the birth control debate agree that birth control artificially prevents or interrupts conception, allowing women to control their own fertility and allowing heterosexual men and women to enjoy unconstrained sexual liberty. However, the decision in Hobby Lobby omitted all discussion of this central function of birth control, and contained no mention of arguments for or against birth control that assume it.

This piece examines and criticizes the two major arguments opposing and supporting birth control on this understanding of its function and core social meaning: first the neo-natural lawyers’ argument against birth control advanced in a papal …

Bernard Lonergan’S Promise For Educational Philosophy, Ivan Gaetz

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

Philosopher and theologian, Bernard Lonergan, S.J., regarded as one of the most influential Jesuit thinkers of the twentieth century, focused primarily on cognitional theory, epistemology and metaphysics. His system of thought known as “intentionality analysis” has been applied widely to many fields of study, including education. While Lonergan directly addressed certain issues in education and educational philosophy, his thought has greater promise for educational philosophy through broader application, specifically in ordering and expanding educational themes related to the four key differentiations of consciousness he expounds. The differentiations are explained as distinct but interrelated levels of consciousness and consist of experiencing, …

Promoting Transgender Understanding And Acceptance At A Jesuit University, Stefan Rowniak, Chenit Ong-Flaherty

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

Transgender individuals have faced and continue to face misunderstanding and severe discrimination in society and in accessing the provision of healthcare. Two nursing faculty at a Jesuit university addressed this issue in a Jesuit community dialogue supported by a Jesuit grant. This dialogue was framed within Jesuit teachings and was consistent with the value of social justice, something fundamental to both the profession of nursing and Jesuit teachings. Three transgender individuals and a Jesuit priest each spoke of their personal experience and then opened the dialogue up for questions. Faculty and students overwhelmingly found the dialogue to be helpful and …