Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Relationship Between Recreational Activity And Dementia Behavior: An Exploratory Study, Nicole Schueller

Theses and Graduate Projects

This study explores the effects recreational activity has on specific dementia behaviors such as wandering, pacing, agitation, calling out and repetitive verbal comments of 15 nursing home residents with dementia. Previous research indicated that too often a resident exhibiting a dementia behavior warranting the need for a restraint is treated with a physical or chemical restraint without careful consideration of the meaning of the behavior. The ethical dilemma of using restraints suggests the need to find alternatives to restraint usage. The study examines how activities affect agitation levels of the residents.

This research consisted of an observational study of 15 …

The Influence Of External Factors In The Overrepresentation Of African American Males In Minnesota Special Education Programs, Lynn K. Lewis

Theses and Graduate Projects

Nationally African American males are disproportionately represented in special education programs. The city of Minneapolis closely mirrors the national trend in this regard. According to the Minneapolis Board of Education black males represent 40 percent of the enrollees in the learning disability, and educational behavior disorder classrooms, even though they are only 21 percent of the total school population. Research in this area is important because if black males are inappropriately assessed for special education placements, it may lead to the following: 1) academic and social segregation from their mainstream peers; 2) inappropriate labeling and education of African American males; …

Adolescents' Perceptions Of Their Relationship With Family Members, John L. Upshaw

Theses and Graduate Projects

This exploratory quantitative study examined adolescents' perceptions of their relationship, in terms of interpersonal boundaries, with family members. The literature review revealed different types of boundaries and boundary positions. The Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scale was the instrument utilized for assessing the adaptability. (EACES II) The questions this study answers include how the adolescents' boundary position, in terms of cohesion, and boundary adaptability effects delinquency and school achievement? Also, how do religious activities of the adolescents effect delinquency and school achievement? Self-survey questionnaires and FACES II inventories were administered at two separate high schools. The findings revealed connected family cohesion …

Developing A Racial Consciousness In The White Leader, Elizabeth A. Campbell

Theses and Graduate Projects

This thesis addresses how racism affects the leadership practice of the white leader in the United States. The researcher did a self-analysis of her own spiritual and psychological development, as a white leader, from birth to age 35. The researcher used her own narrative as the primary source of data. Secondary resources were used to interpret this data. The researcher argues that the United States is a nation in which social life is still largely governed by the belief in the intellectual, cultural and moral superiority of whites, or the doctrine of white supremacy.

The researcher argues further that the …

Grief And Loss Issues And Women's Drinking Patterns, Joyce M. Halstrom

Theses and Graduate Projects

This exploratory, qualitative study was undertaken to explore the relationship of grief and loss and women's drinking patterns. The literature review focused on major contributors of grief work, theoretical frameworks of the grieving process, and an overview of alcoholism in women. Ten women who were recovering from alcoholism in a half-way house were interviewed using open-ended, semi-structured questions. The interviews focused on the respondents' drinking patterns, their grief and loss issues, and the treatment of those issues in their chemical dependency treatment program. Implications for social work practice is included. Results indicate the importance of prevention, intervention, and education of …

The Salvation Army: A Study Of Organizational Culture And Type, Susan S. Gotzman

Theses and Graduate Projects

This study of The Salvation Army examined the relationship between the organizational character type and management style related to models of communication and decision making. The research statement of this study on the organizational character type of The Salvation Army indicates its capacity to involve personnel in communication and decision making processes. Carl Jung's psychological type theory provides the theoretical framework. Jung's theory explains human behavior in terms of individual preferences for acquiring information and making decisions. The Organizational Character Index, a Jungian typing instrument adapted to an organizational context, is used to determine the organizational character type. A sample …

The Transition From Adolescence To Adulthood For People With Cystic Fibrosis, Marykay Lannon Palmer

Theses and Graduate Projects

Cystic fibrosis (CF) has long been thought of as a childhood disease due to the shortened life span of its victims. Due to advances in medical research, the life expectancy for those with CF has been steadily on the rise to the current median life expectancy of 30 years. There has been extensive medical research on CF in adulthood but little or no research on the impact of CF on becoming an adult. This exploratory, qualitative study examined the perceptions of adults with CF regarding the impact the disease has had on their lives, especially during the transition from adolescence …

Bereavement Support In Central And West-Central Minnesota Schools: An Exploratory Study, Brenda K. Wiese

Theses and Graduate Projects

This study explored the need for services for school-aged children who have experienced the death of a close family member. Grieving parents and other adult caregivers may have difficulty supporting and assisting these children through the grief process. School social workers from fourteen school districts in central and west-central Minnesota were involved in this study. The results showed that the schools provide services which deal with children' s grief issues. Other needs as identified by the social workers included: 1) increased school social workers to support these students; 2) additional trainings in the area of working with grieving children; and …

A Descriptive Study Of Adolescent Truancy In Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ruth Merritt

Theses and Graduate Projects

Truancy is defined as the act of being absent from school without permission. The problem of inconsistent school attendance is often the first sign of trouble with students. Studies show a strong link between truancy, dropping out of school, and delinquent behavior. Excessive unexcused absences are present in varying degrees in all schools and across the country. Truancy is a complex problem that involves the student, the family, the school, and the community. The problem continues to increase year after year.

In this study, 50 subjects aged 12-15 are described using two different measures. Parent-completed intake forms provide information on …

Development And Implementation Of A Parent's Grief Support Group Concurrent With A Preexisting Children's Grief Support Group, Evelyn J. Swenson

Theses and Graduate Projects

Children who grieve need the support and understanding of their parent(s) in order to experience a grief reaction void of negative long-term effects. Parents experiencing grief are often exhausted from their own grief response having little energy to obtain support and information to provide a supportive atmosphere for their children. This study evaluates the efficacy of a parent grief support group in conjunction with a children grief group for ages 6-12 in response to the belief that the parent-child relationship undergoes extreme stress when a death is experienced in the family. A six session psycho-educational parent grief support group was …

The Leadership-Mentoring Connection: An Exploration, John W. Hurst

Theses and Graduate Projects

Mentoring is a process dating back to the times of the ancient Greeks. In modern times, key mentoring activities remain unchanged: mentors guide a proteges development. Today, this development encompasses many things, including leadership. This study began as an exploration of the mentoring-leadership link. This study sought to determine how mentor and leader roles overlap, and if mentoring was significant in leadership development. The study approach was two pronged: first, a limited leadership and mentoring literature review; and second, a survey of people with mentoring-leadership experiences.

Some literature sources confirmed limited mentoring-leadership links. A few reported specific mentoring benefits with …

Managers Are Appointed, Leaders Emerge: How New Scientific Paradigms Inform Organizationel Leadership, Lew Beccone

Theses and Graduate Projects

For most of the 20th century the mechanistic, linear world of Newtonian science has functioned both as metaphor for thinking about organizational dynamics and as the mental model around which organizations have developed. Recently, the postclassical sciences have yielded an alternate understanding of the world, one fundamentally different from that of the Newtonian model. This paper explores a world view emerging from complexity studies and quantum physics, contrasts it with the dominant image derived from classical physics, and draws implications for organizational leadership. The lens of postclassical science challenges our fundamental ontology and reframes our views of organizational life in …

An Historical Review Of Empirical Research Regarding Homophobia, Andrew Klopp

Theses and Graduate Projects

This study sought to explore empirical research which exists regarding homophobia. Only within the last thirty years has there been a serious attempt by researchers to critically examine and discuss homophobia in our society with regard to heterosexuals' attitudes toward gays and lesbians. Three themes emerged from the literature: 1) discussions of how homophobia may be quantifiably measured; 2) how the fear of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is equated with the fear of homosexuals; and 3) how direct practice with clients is affected by a practitioner's own homophobia. This researcher found varied social, medical and political schools of thought …

Attitudes Of Paternalism Among Social Workers Working With Involuntary Clients Who Are Adolescents, Karol J. Jensen-Schneider

Theses and Graduate Projects

This study identified how social workers in one metropolitan county view the use of paternalism when working with involuntary adolescents. The social workers interviewed state that paternalism is becoming more and more a part of the role of social workers. The study also discusses what attributes of involuntary adolescents and factors are important to social workers in their decision to allow adolescents to make choices about their case plans. There were nine important attributes and factors identified in the data: they are best interest of the adolescent, offering choices to the adolescent and choices made by the youth, relationships with …

Birth Parent Participation In Foster Care Placement Planning: Relationship To Discharge Outcomes, Karen A. Hulteen

Theses and Graduate Projects

Prior studies have found a positive relationship between contact of birth family and foster children and reunification, as well as with children's well-being, adjustment, and development during and after foster care. Law requires and research validates social work practice which places children in the least restrictive, most normative living situation possible to meet their needs. Examining records of 188 youth discharged from treatment foster care from Human Service Associates from January 1, 1995 to December 31, 1996, this investigation discovered that birth parent participation in placement planning meetings and quarterly reviews, one indicator of birth family involvement, was related to …

Factors That Contribute To Resiliency In Anishinabe/Ojibwe Children Overcoming Adversity, Jeffrey S. Rodin

Theses and Graduate Projects

The object of this research is to examine the resilience of the Native Americans from the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. This group of people have faced many forms of adversity over the generations. These adversities include poverty, racism, and cultural separation just to name a few. From the perspective of ecological systems theory, family systems theory, and the strengths perspective, this study focuses on individuals that grew uP on the Mille Lacs reservation and have been recognized as being successful by their tribal community. Reflecting on their childhood, these individuals discussed three factors that contributed to their resiliency. These …

Maintaining Social Services After-Hours In A Hospital Emergency Department: Health Care Preferences With On-Call And In-House Programs, Michelle L. Nash

Theses and Graduate Projects

This research describes the satisfaction of emergency department staff in relation to the social service after-hours coverage at Fairview Southdale hospital. The participants of the study were physicians, nurses, health unit coordinators, and social workers of Fairview Southdale hospital working with the emergency department. The participants completed a 17-question mailed survey. The findings illustrated the desire of staff to expand the current after-hours coverage of the emergency department to more in-house availability. The information gathered and compiled for this study will be used to help support the increase of social work services role in the emergency department at Fairview Southdale …

Exploring The Differences In Autonomy For Residents With Alzheimer's Disease Between Those Living In A Special Care Unit And Those In A Residential Group Home: A Comparative Study, Michelle Mari Jensen

Theses and Graduate Projects

Dementia of the Alzheimer's type (DAT) is a progressive, terminal disease marked by the loss of cognitive function. Due to cognitive impairments, residents with dementia exhibit behaviors that indicate disordered person in environment transactions. Due to the resulting disordered transactions, residents with dementia living in long-term care settings offen experience diminished opportunity to choose.

This paper is a comparative/descriptive study based on nursing assistant responses from an anonymous questionnaire in two long-term care facilities. Autonomy is defined by Callopy (1988) as freedom, independence and choice.

The results indicate that the residents at each respective facility seem to experience autonomy in …

A Policy Analysis Of The Minnesota Family Investment Program - Statewide: The Employment And Training Component, Rachel E. Friesen

Theses and Graduate Projects

Minnesota has just began one of its biggest welfare overhauls ever through the state's new policy: The Minnesota Family Investment-statewide (MFIP-S). The Federal welfare policy reform, Temporary Assistance for Needy families (TANF), initiated this revamp and has shifted focus to temporary assistance and mandatory work requirements for welfare participants. The employment and training component of the MFIP-S policy is currently being implemented and has proven to play an important role in this major effort that will affect thousands of people. This paper analyzes the employment and training component of MFIP-S, specifically concentrating on how it will affect single-mothers. The following …

Characteristics Of Leaders Of Effective Rehabilitation Teams In Skilled Nursing Facilities, Kirsten K. Ness

Theses and Graduate Projects

The purpose of this study was to identify characteristics of leaders who manage effective rehabilitation teams in skilled nursing facilities. The subjects were 51 rehabilitation professionals employed by a rehabilitation company in the Midwest. Subjects rated their self selected leaders on the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (Bass & Avolio, 1995), and made qualitative comments about their leader on an attached page. Data were analyzed to determine the organizational relationship between the leader and rater. Leadership characteristics were identified by the choices of the raters on the MLQ. The data show that the rehabilitation professionals in this sample population selected a leader …

Client-Case Manager Relationship: The Effects And Impact Of Rule 79 Case Managers Testimony In Commitment Court, Teresa M. Nordin

Theses and Graduate Projects

Changes in the mental health laws in the United States over the last 50 years has altered the manner in which individuals with a serious and persistent mental illness (SPMI) are involuntarily committed. The changes have increased the need for mental health professionals to be involved with the court system to aid in understanding the client's mental disorder. The Minnesota Comprehensive Adult and Children's Mental Health Act (MCACMHA) provides mental health case management for individuals with a SPMI. This exploratory study focuses on how the client-case manager relationship is impacted by the requirement that case managers be involved in all …

Historical Analysis Of Past And Present Treatmeiyts Associated With Borderlne Personality Disorder, Jimmie Lee Willette

Theses and Graduate Projects

The following thesis examines the historical perspective of mental illness, leading to therapeutic interventions for individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder. The need for improved interventions are reflected in treatment failure with both historical and traditional therapies, including repeated hospitalizations, self- injurious behaviors and suicide attempts. This thesis uses the Systems Theory and Ecological Perspective to review and analyze past and present treatments, with special emphasis on the 'Dialectic Behavior Therapy,' (DBT) program initiated in 1993 exclusively for individuals diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder.

Gay Men And The Process Of Becoming Authentic: An Exploratory Study, Thomas G. Wales

Theses and Graduate Projects

The concept of authenticity has not been studied as it relates to the lives of gay men. Hence, the concept of authenticity was explored through the literature and qualitative research methods. *Participants were key informants, including ministers, psychologists, and social workers. The study findings revealed the oppressive and anxiety-provoking existential givens experienced by gay men. Also, the study findings revealed that some gay men seek to avoid suffering and succumb to dread, while others actively confront their suffering through courage, responsibility, love, faith, spontaneity, and creativity. The gay men who confront their suffering become more aware of their innate strengths …

Designing Organizations For Successful Corporate Brands, Kay Roberts

Theses and Graduate Projects

Organizational strategies for effective brand management programs result in an organizationrs ability to build brand equity. This study develops a conceptual model of brand and of the need for effective leadership and communication in estahlishing a clear connection between organizational effectiveness and the issue of hrand management. While brand programs have been primarily directed from the marketing and communication departments for the benefit of external audiences, this research shows that significant effort must be made to include other areas of the organization in branding efforts so as to leverage potential organizational strategies that will enhance brand-building organizational initiatives. Through strategies, …