Psychology Commons^™

Traditional And Nontraditional Foster Parenting, Angela M. Baranzelli-Yoder

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Foster parents in nontraditional foster care programs receive more extensive, ongoing training and support than foster parents in traditional foster care programs. This study examined whether differences exist in the levels of perceived parenting stress, satisfaction, and efficacy among traditional and nontraditional foster parents. Twenty-four foster parents completed the Parenting Stress Index (PSI) and the Parenting Sense of Competence scale (PSOC). Nontraditional foster parents reported higher levels of overall parenting stress and lower levels of foster parent role satisfaction than did traditional foster parents. However, response profiles indicated that nontraditional foster parents had children with more emotional and behavioral problems …

Parents' Homophobia And Childrearing Gender Role Beliefs: Correlates In A Local Populations, Angela Ackerman Brogle

Honors Capstones

Capstone submitted as a graduation requirement for the BSU Honors Program.

Harmful To Whom? Panelists Consider The Conservative Backlash Against Judith Levine's New Book, Patrick Mccreery

Center for LGBTQ Studies (CLAGS)

Judith Levine jokingly says that at least she's in good company: Margaret Sanger, Alfred Kinsey, and Jocelyn Elders all were vilified for allegedly promoting sex between adults and children (though of course none of them did any such thing). Levine, a journalist and founder of the National Writers Union, has been vilified and worse because of her new book, Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex (University of Minnesota Press). In it, she argues that sex is not inherently harmful to teenagers, but can be healthy and empowering. Furthermore, she claims that society's responses to fears of …

Toward A More Comprehensive Understanding Of Peer Maltreatment: Studies Of Relational Victimization, Nikki R. Crick, Juan F. Casas, David A. Nelson

Psychology Faculty Publications

Although many past studies of peer maltreatment have focused on physical victimization, the importance of an empirical focus on relational victimization has only recently been recognized. In relational victimization, the perpetrator attempts to harm the target through the manipulation of relationships, threat of damage to them, or both. We review what is currently known about relational victimization with three issues in mind: (a) developmental changes in the manifestation of relational victimization, (b) gender differences in the likelihood of being victimized, and (c) evidence that relational victimization is harmful.

More Than Just Imaginative: A Qualitative Study Of Values In Literature For Young Children From The 20th Century, Anna L. Cates

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation endeavors to address the issue of proper methodology for character education. Although character education enjoys wide support among teachers, parents, and society at large, the proper manner with which to accomplish this educational objective continues to be debated. Literature-based approaches to character education are among the most popular means of presenting values to students. This popularity has prompted scholars to closely scrutinize the value patterns in literature for young people. In part, the resulting studies have aimed to ascertain the worthiness of literature itself as a medium for introducing discussion about values and related issues. The method used …

Self-Concept And Behavior: Changes As A Result Of Participation In Outward Bound, Douglas Vail Campbell

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Self-concept is an area of psychology that has received a large amount of attention in recent years. The idea of self-concept subsumes a number of related concepts including identity, self-esteem, and perceived self-efficacy. The clinical implications of self-concept disturbance and possible methods of altering self-concept are discussed. The current study was designed to evaluate several hypotheses about the way in which selfconcept may be changed by investigating the potential impact of Outward Bound on its individual participants. The present study examined the effect of the Outward Bound program, a wilderness educational program, on the self-concept and behavior of a group …

Night Moves: A Qualitative Investigation Of Street-Level Sex Work, Rochelle L. Dalla

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

The subculture of street-level sex work including the social environment, drug use and abuse, and violence was examined. Personal interviews were conducted with 43 women involved in streetwalking prostitution. Data were analyzed using Phenomenological Descriptive Analysis (Colaizzi, 1978). Several participants reported developing emotional relationships and having children with clients, former clients, or pimps; some participants were married to men who pimped them. Supportive relationships with other streetwalkers were largely nonexistent; streetwalking constitutes a solitary business for most. The majority reported drug addiction, although less than half entered prostitution to support an already established drug habit. Financial need propelled many into …

Detecting A Male's Attitudinal Change During The Course Of A Partner's Pregnancy Using The Index Of Marital Satisfaction, Melanie Ann Hummel

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Thirty-one married men who were expecting their first child were tested in the first, second, and third trimesters of pregnancy with the Index of Marital Satisfaction to see if the subjects experienced a significant drop in marital satisfaction during the course of pregnancy. Previous research has shown that couples’ marital satisfaction significantly declines after the birth of a baby, but little research has explored the male’s attitudinal change during the pregnancy itself. The current study found that there was no significant change in the subjects’ marital satisfaction from early to late pregnancy. A larger study with a sample more representative …

Gender Differences In Gross And Fine Motor Abilities In Preschool Aged Children In West Virginia, Kelly R. Pennington

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to investigate gender differences in gross and fine motor abilities in preschool aged children in West Virginia. Subjects consisted of 21 males and 16 females. Data was collected via the West Virginia Educare Initiative using the Carolina Curriculum for Preschoolers with Special Needs. Results of this study indicate that there are no significant gender differences in either gross motor or fine motor abilities in preschool aged children.

Evolving Questions And Comparative Perspectives In Cultural/Historical Perspective: Lessons From Research In Ngecha, Kenya, Carolyn Pope Edwards

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

In studying human development in cultural-historical context, we must integrate multiple levels of analysis and strive to identify culture’s imprint inside the contexts of socialization. Issues of methodology are complex. This paper argues that both comparative and historical-interpretive studies are valuable and indeed generative for each other, using as an example an international, collaborative research project focused on East African women and changing childrearing values. The site was Ngecha, a Gikuyu-speaking community in the Central Province of Kenya, during a period of rapid social change from an agrarian to a wage earning economy shortly after national independence (1968-1973). The experiences …

So Young And So Untender: Remorseless Children And The Expectations Of The Law, Martha Grace Duncan

Faculty Articles

A nine-year-old speaks with apparent callousness as he walks by the body of the girl he has killed. A fourteen-year-old jokes about "body parts in her pocket" after bashing in her mother's head with a candlestick holder. And a fifteen-year-old laughingly names his accomplice ''Homicide" after participating in a robbery that culminated in the victim's death. Seemingly remorseless acts such as these can have a crucial impact on the way a child or adolescent fares in the juvenile justice or criminal system. Yet, when one looks closely at what the courts interpret as indicators of remorselessness -- ­taking into account …

Depression And Perception Of Maternal Rejection In Latency Age, African American Children Of Alcoholic Mothers, Karen Marse

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

.

Families And Learning In Classified And Non-Classified First Graders, Howard Baigas

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

.

Relationships Of Object Relations Functioning, Attachment Security And Self-Representations To The Adult Relatedness Of College Students, Florence Gussoni-Leone

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

.

Adult Adoptees And The Psychological Processes Involved In The Decision To Search For Origins, Anne Ranee Farrar

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

.

The Use Of Photographic Caricatures To Examine The Development Of A Perception Of Facial Attractiveness, Bronwyn J. Struthers

Theses : Honours

Throughout the human population, there is remarkable agreement as to what constitutes an attractive face. The consistency of attractiveness ratings across age, gender and culture has led to a search for an underlying construct that determines facial attractiveness. Langlois and Roggman (1990) proposed the "average is attractive" hypothesis arguing that facial attractiveness is determined by the level of averageness of facial features. Langlois and Roggman (1990) created composite faces to examine this hypothesis but their methodology was criticised, particularly because the technique used to create the composites tended to remove facial flaws and blemishes. This led to the argument that …

Identifying And Building On Strengths Of Children With Serious Emotional Disturbances, Michael Orval Taylor

Dissertations and Theses

The aim of this study is to explore strengths assessments and the participation of parents in assessment of strengths and functioning of their children challenged by serious emotional disorders. The children in this study have a high level of exposure to mental illness, domestic violence and substance abuse in their biological families. These children are living with family members or foster families in the community, with the majority at continuing risk of placement outside of their homes and communities due to serious emotional and behavioral problems.

The research questions investigated are the concordance of families and professionals in assessment of …

Correlates Of Deviant Behaviour : An Etiological Study, Siok Gim Chan

Student Works (2000-2009)

This study aims to ascertain whether social and personal resources are related to deviant behaviour of adolescents. The social resources investigated are those available to them in their home, peer-group and school, and are measured in terms of parental support, peer-group support and school experiences. The personal resources studied are concepts of self, coping behaviour and moral development. Comparing delinquent subjects to controls will ascertain the resources that helped adolescents abstain from deviant behaviour. Survey method is used for data collection. The questionnaire is administrated to 63 male delinquent subjects in an approved school. The questionnaire is posted to 16 …

Depression And Social Support As Moderators Of Withon-Person Relationships Between Daily Events And Daily Adjustments During Adolescence, Rebecca M. Plesko

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Everyday for 2 weeks, adolescents described the events that occurred each day and provided measures of their daily self-esteem and depressogenic adjustment. Adolescents also provided trait measures of depression and social support. Within-person relationships were found between social and achievement, positive and negative daily events and daily adjustment. Depression and social support moderated specific within-person relationships. Less well-adjusted adolescents were more reactive to social positive events than better-adjusted adolescents, but surprisingly, better-adjusted adolescents were more reactive to social negative events than less well-adjusted adolescents. Better-adjusted adolescents were also more reactive to achievement positive events than less well-adjusted adolescents. Girls were …

Living In Prison: Evaluating The Deprivation And Importation Models Of Inmate Adaptation, Lisa Danielle Velarde

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of the present study is to broaden knowledge in the area of adjustment to incarceration. Clemmer (1950) proposed that a process known as prisonization develops as inmates adjust to the arduous circumstance of incarceration. Previous research has compared two competing models of adaptation, known as importation and deprivation, as predictors of prisonization. Given that Clemmer (1950) originally hypothesized that prisonization serves as a method of adjusting to the prison environment, the present study explored the relationships among the importation model, the deprivation model, prisonization, and adjustment. In an attempt to take into consideration both person and environmental factors, …

Determinants Of Paternal Responsibility, Engagement, Accessibility, Suzanne Mischell Nangle

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The current study was designed to examine several variables that may influence three areas of paternal involvement with young children. Specifically, 75 couples with children between the ages of 1 and 4 completed questionnaires that assessed beliefs and reported fathers' involvement in three areas of childcare described by Lamb, Pleck, Charnov, and Levine ( 1985). Specifically, the three areas of paternal involvement measured were interaction/engagement, accessibility, and responsibility. Based on a review of the literature, the following variables were hypothesized to influence fathers' involvement: gender-role beliefs, paternal competence in the parenting role, marital satisfaction, job stress, work-family conflict, conflict in …

The State Goes Home: Local Hyper-Vigilance Of Children And The Global Retreat From Social Reproduction, Cindi Katz

Publications and Research

In an early scene in The Terminator, the Cyborgian Arnold Schwarzenegger walks into an L.A. gun shop and asks to see the wares. The shopkeeper lays out Uzis, submachine guns, rocket launchers, and other sophisticated means of overkill, nervously understating, "Any one of these will suit you for home defense purposes." The situation is likewise in the growing child protection industry. In keeping with the shopkeeper's sly comment, these businesses feast on an all-pervasive culture of fear, while creating a mockery, alibi, and distraction out of what they are really about - to remake the home as a citadel through …

Does Postformal Thinking Facilitate Recovery From Grief And Promote Well-Being During Bereavement In Widows?, Sharon Lee Sanders

Theses Digitization Project

Widows were assessed on four measures relating to recovery from bereavement: postformal thinking (measured as dialectical thinking), recovery from grief (measured as past feelings and present feelings), well-being (measured by three subscales: autonomy, environmental mastery, and positive relations with others), and age at time of participation. Eighty participants completed and returned questionnaires. It was hypothesized that age of the participant and the development of postformal thinking would predict higher scores on recovery from grief and well-being. Analysis was performed using a Structural Equation Model with a comparative fit index (CFI) of .98. Results showed that age and postformal thinking did …

The Music Channel: Integrating The Harp Into The Communication Process Of Children With Autism, Lori A. Kissinger

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study was undertaken to determine if the harp could be used as a communication channel for children with autism. The two research questions guiding this study were: (1) Will a child with autism utilize the harp to try to communicate a message? And (2) if the harp is utilized by a child with autism as a communication channel, can the receiver decode the intended message? Two qualitative case studies using constant comparison analysis were conducted over a six-day observation period. Five predominant responses emerged: (1) initial reaction to the instrument, (2) bonding with the instrument, (3) socialization through …

Parenting Behaviors Related To Young Adult Depressive Symptomology, Rebecca D. Abramson

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Parental stress, hostility, warmth, acceptance, amount of control, and overall security of parent-child attachment appears to influence childhood and adult adjustment. Several relationships have been found between parenting style and the emotional and psychological well being of children and adolescents (e.g., Baumrind, 1967, 1971; Parker, 1979a, 1979b; Ge, Conger, Lorenz, & Simons, 1994; Ge, Best, Conger, & Simons, 1996). The present study examined the effects of perceived parenting styles on young adults' reported psychological distress and depressive symptomology. Participants viewed both mothers and fathers as equally attentive, supportive, and controlling, while viewing mothers as slightly more caring. However, participants' perceptions …

The Impact Of Parental Variables On Child Behavior At Home And In The Daycare Classroom, Margaret Sue Hart

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The current study was designed examine the relationships among parental variables and child behavior in different settings and to test four path analytic models of children's internalizing and externalizing behavior as reported by both parents and primary daycare teachers. Participants were 104 intact couples with children between the ages of 18 months and 5 years. Mothers and fathers independently completed a packet of questionnaires including measures of masculinity ideology, parenting beliefs, work stress, work-family conflict, marital conflict, child behavior, as well as a demographic questionnaire. Correlations among parent and child variables were calculated. Moderate relationships between maternal and paternal variables …

The Utility Of Psychological Research To Aid And Abet Violence: Terrorist Talent Scouts And The Selection And Management Of Youthful Terrorists, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article identities the political implications of psychological research intended to prevent or minimize youthful violence. The article then focuses on how this research can be used to help select and manage youthful terrorists.

Politics, Childhood Sexual Abuse, And Science Abuse, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article explores the latest political developments concerning the scientific analysis of childhood sexual abuse.

An Investigation Of The Relationship Between The Family Of Origin And Selected Career Development Outcomes, Timothy Dean Dodge

Doctoral Dissertations

The present study was designed to examine, from the perspective of Bowen family systems theory (Papero, 1990) and Williamson's theory of personal authority in the family system (Williamson, 1981, 1982a, 1982b), the impact of family dynamics on the career development of college students and to overcome methodological weaknesses of prior research in this area. Methodologically, the present study overcomes weaknesses of prior research by providing a unifying theory from which measures of family dynamics are derived and by measuring career outcomes which are logically tied to family dynamics. Career outcome measures selected for the study include vocational identity, career decision-making …

The Relationship Between Receptive Language Skills And School Readiness, Patricia Slack Hines

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of the current study was to explore the relationship between language and academic readiness. The current study included 56 preschool children. Specifically, 9 two year olds participated, 18 three year olds participated, 21 four year olds, and 8 five year olds participated. Twenty- three were female and twenty-three were male. Each child was administered the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT III), followed by both the School Readiness Composite (SRC) of the Bracken Basic Concept Scale – Revised or BBCS-R. A Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated for the relationship between the standard scores of the PPVT III, and the …