Child Psychology Commons^™

Re-Imagining Home: Operation Pedro Pan In The Cuban-American Imaginary, Yvette Fuentes

Quadrivium: A Journal of Multidisciplinary Scholarship

An exploration of the traumatic events of Operation Pedro Pan, where over 14,000 Cuban children traveled alone to the United States between December 1960 and October 1962. The program was organized by the Catholic Welfare Bureau of Miami and the U.S. State Department due to requests from Cuban parents who feared their children would be indoctrinated in Marxism by the new revolutionary government.

Metaphoric Generative Genograms: A Journey To Bring Genograms To Life Through Metaphorical Components, Elisa Garcia

Department of Family Therapy Dissertations and Applied Clinical Projects

The purpose of this dissertation is to offer a greater understanding of the potential of genograms through my clinical work from a Bowen Family Systems lens. I account for how I processed and effectively blended metaphorical components, by examining six cases from my two-year journal entries, of bringing genograms to life in sessions. I also explain how I created a useful tool, the Metaphoric Generative Genogram, that can benefit other clinicians working with children and families in the foster care community.

The Importance Of Access To Benefits Under The Family Medical Leave Act For Low-Income Families For Bonding And Attachment Facilitation With A Fragile Infant And The Role Of The Social Worker, Theresa Stewart Moran

21st Century Social Justice

Lack of universal family leave discriminates against low-income families with infants who require care in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Birth complications tend to occur more frequently in families living with low socioeconomic status, placing a disproportionate burden on an already vulnerable population. Parents in this group tend to be employed in jobs that do not include the benefit of parental leave. Considering that attachment relationships form as the result of bonding transactions during a critical time in development, limiting contact curtails secure attachment. This, combined with other risk factors, increase the odds of lifelong negative outcomes. Family leave policy …

Possible Psychosocial Benefits Of Having A Sibling With A Disability, Jenna M. Talbott

Senior Honors Theses

Possible psychosocial benefits resulting from exposure to siblings with disabilities are investigated in the current study. Previous literature has generally overlooked the possibility of psychosocial benefits by exclusively focusing on the negative effects of having a sibling with disabilities. Contact theory suggests that the increased exposure to individuals with disabilities should increase positive attitude toward those who are struggling with disadvantages. This investigation hypothesized that this tendency would be manifested as elevated empathy and compassion in individuals who have siblings with disabilities, and that these traits would be influenced by certain demographic variables. A survey was distributed, and the responses …

Juvenile Diversion Programs: High-Risk Youth And Their Effect On Offense Targeting, Chelsey R. Warner

Political Science Theses and Capstones

One of the largest problems that plague the juvenile justice system today is how to better handle juvenile crime without causing the juvenile to revert back to that behavior, but still helping them understand and acknowledge the crime they have committed. The state of Minnesota has created juvenile diversion programs as an attempt to aid in that endeavor. These programs however are under researched. The goal of this article is to shed some light on what those programs look like and how some counties programs vary from other programs on other counties; specifically focusing on the variation between offense-targeting for …

Changes In School Connectedness And Deviant Peer Affiliation Among Sixth-Grade Students From High-Poverty Neighborhoods, Kathleen Moritz Rudasill, Kate Niehaus, Lisa J. Crockett, Christopher R. Rakes

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

This longitudinal study examined associations between changes in School Connectedness and changes in Affiliation With Deviant Peers among students from high-poverty backgrounds during the year immediately following the transition to middle school. Sixth-graders (N = 328) attending two middle schools in a large school district completed measures of School Connectedness and Affiliation With Deviant Peers at three points across the year. Results from parallel process modeling showed that students’ reports of School Support significantly declined across the school year, School Support and Affiliation With Deviant Peers were negatively associated at the beginning of the school year, and students who reported …

The Impact Of Home Visitor Relationship Quality On Parenting And Child Outcomes: Does Maternal Age Matter?, Elizabeth A. Colsey

Senior Honors Theses

Early Head Start (EHS) is an early intervention program that seeks to mitigate the effects of risk for those families with young children. Consistent with attachment theory, the home visiting component of EHS targets parent-child relationships in order to combat negative child outcomes. Research indicates that children of adolescent mothers are susceptible to poor outcomes both in childhood and adulthood. The current study utilized EHS data from 1198 parent-child dyads to assess the indirect relationship of home visitor quality on child aggression through parent quality, as moderated by maternal age. Findings indicated that home visitor quality may have a greater …

Examining Associations Between Classroom Environment And Processes And Early Mathematics Performance From Pre-Kindergarten To Kindergarten., Victoria J. Molfese, Todd Brown, Jill L. Adelson, Jennifer Beswick, Jill Jacobi-Vessels, Lana Thomas, Melissa Ferguson, Brittany Culver

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

One benefit of the No Child Left Behind legislation (2001) has been the increasing attention on the importance of the skills learned in the pre-kindergarten period for later academic achievement. There is a growing awareness that mathematics skills in kindergarten and beyond are influenced by the formal and informal mathematics skills acquired in the pre-kindergarten classroom. In recent years, a body of research has emerged pointing to the contributions to children’s learning from pre-kindergarten program quality as indexed by structure and process elements in the classroom. Results from this study point to three major findings. First, the growth of mathematics …

Suicide Risk At Young Adulthood: Continuities And Discontinuities From Adolescence, Carole Hooven, Karen A. Snedker, Elaine Adams Thompson

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

Young adult suicide is an important social problem, yet little is known about how risk for young adult suicide develops from earlier life stages. In this study the authors report on 759 young adults who were potential high school dropouts as youth. At both adolescence and young adulthood, measures of suicide risk status and related suicide risk factors are collected. With a two-by-two classification on the basis of suicide risk status at both adolescence and young adulthood, the authors distinguish four mutually exclusive groups reflecting suicide risk at two life stages. Using ANOVA and logistic regression, both adolescent and young …

2011-2012 Unlv Mcnair Journal, Cyndy Anang, Sajar Camara, Pamela Cornejo, Carla Antonieta Farcello, Ilse Anahi Garcia, Natiera Magnuson, William L. Mccurdy, Lorena Munoz, Maxym V. Myroshnychenko, Ricardo Rios, Theodore Waldeck, Barbara Wallen, Ana Zuniga, Brenda M. Aguilar, Tiffany Alexandra Alvarez, Daniel N. Erosa, Paige C. Espinosa, Carla Antonieta Farcello, Julienne Jochel Paraiso, Nathaniel Derek Phillipps, Carmen Vallin, Jacent N. Wamala, Ernesto Zamora-Ramos

McNair Journal

Journal articles based on research conducted by undergraduate students in the McNair Scholars Program

Table of Contents

Biography of Dr. Ronald E. McNair

Statements:

Dr. Neal J. Smatresk, UNLV President

Dr. Juanita P. Fain, Vice President of Student Affairs

Dr. William W. Sullivan, Associate Vice President for Retention and Outreach

Mr. Keith Rogers, Deputy Executive Director of the Center for Academic Enrichment and Outreach

McNair Scholars Institute Staff

Scaling Up: Professional Development To Serve Young Children In Chinese Welfare Institutions, Carolyn P. Edwards, Janice N. Cotton, Wen Zhao, Jerònia Muntaner-Gelabert

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

As senior program directors and field supervisors, we at Half the Sky Foundation asked ourselves, how can we empower children's welfare institution staff to provide nurture, enrichment, and education for all young children in state care? Creating an infrastructure for providing professional development was the first step. The HTS training infrastructure for early childhood includes international experts and a cadre of skilled Chinese teacher trainers, who together create a network of HTS teacher trainers (program directors and field supervisors for Infant Nurture and Little Sisters). In addition, Blue Sky model training centers-soon to number 31, one for each province of …

The Uneven Distribution Of Social Suffering: Documenting The Social Health Consequences Of Neo-Liberal Social Policy On Marginalized Youth, Michelle Fine, Brett G. Stoudt, Maddy Fox, Maybelline Santos

Publications and Research

In 2009, British epidemiologists Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett published "The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Strong", in which they argue that severely unequal societies produce high rates of ‘social pain”: adverse outcomes including school drop out, teen pregnancy, mental health problems, lack of social trust, high mortality rates, violence and crime, low social participation. Their volume challenges the belief that the extent of poverty in a community predicts negative outcomes. They assert instead that the size of the inequality gap defines the material and psychological contours of the chasm between the wealthiest and the most impoverished, enabling …

Forced Migration And The Survival Needs Of The Nigerian Child, Ngozi Diwunma Obidike

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

This article identifies the survival needs of the forced migrant Nigerian child as well as the extent to which the identified needs are satisfied. The population consisted of 600 forced migrant children and 10 emergency workers who were chosen based on their experiences being forced migrants. A questionnaire was used for the study. The result showed) among other things, that although the need for food, clean water, education, peace, and shelter were identified as the five most essential needs, other needs were also identified as necessary for the children's survival. Based on the results, recommendations were made.

Juvenile Delinquency Policy And Juvenile Crime In The American States, Jennifer Baker

Political Science Theses and Capstones

Every year each state comes out with a report on all the possible crimes that were committed and how many people were convicted for various crimes in a given state. The same goes for juveniles, as reported in the Juvenile Offenders and Victims 2006 National Report. I compiled data on the fifty states and their programs directed towards juveniles. I then compared the different crimes against the different programs to see if there was any significant difference in Crime rates between states having a specific juvenile justice program or not. I found that some of the programs did affect crime …

Head Start: It Works For Indiana Children And Families!, Jennifer Dobbs-Oates, James Elicker, Volker Thomas

Center for Families Publications

This technical report summarizes new and existing data to address the question, “Does Head Start work for Indiana children, families, and communities?” Data sources consulted in this study include the state Head Start Program Information Report, local Indiana Head Start and Early Head Start Programs, existing national studies of Head Start and Early Head Start, and local and national data available on children’s development in early care and education programs for low-income families. This report concludes that Indiana’s Early Head Start and Head Start programs are indeed providing substantial benefits to children, families, and communities. The report summarizes the outcomes …

Adhd: Culture, Treatment Strategies And Their Relevance To Preschool Children, Nelson M. Bean

CMC Senior Theses

In recent decades a growing number of individuals in preschool, middle childhood and adolescence have been diagnosed with ADHD. Accompanying increasing rates of diagnoses is an increase in the use of stimulant medication in preschool populations, a practice not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. This paper reviews the current literature pertaining the social and developmental consequences of ADHD, its effect on the child and family, treatment strategies with and without the use of stimulants, and cultural and diagnostic trends which may be contributing to the rising number of diagnoses. A review of the literature suggests that there is …

"It's All One Big Circle": Welfare Discourse And The Everyday Lives Of Urban Adolescents, Staci T. Lowe

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Welfare reform succeeded, in part, because of discourse that characterized the poverty problem as one of long-term dependency and personal irresponsibility. Adolescent pregnancy was targeted as both cause and manifestation of a welfare crisis. This study examined how welfare reform was perceived and experienced by lowincome, urban adolescents. Findings from interviews revealed that adolescents agreed with many of the basic tenets of welfare reform, largely because they had appropriated much of the discourse prevalent in wider society. However, their complex life stories contained a powerful subtext concerning structural determinants of poverty that ran counter to prevailing notions of "personal responsibility."

Medicating Children: The Enduring Controversy Over Adhd And Pediatric Stimulant Pharmacotherapy, Rick Mayes, Jennifer L. Erkulwater, Catherine Bagwell

Political Science Faculty Publications

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) holds the distinction of being both the most extensively studied pediatric mental disorder and one of the most controversial. This is partly due to the fact that it is also the most commonly diagnosed mental disorder among minors. On average, one in every ten to 15 children in the U.S. has been diagnosed with the disorder and one in every 20 to 25 uses a stimulant medication—often Ritalin, Adderall, or Concerta—as treatment. The biggest increase in youth diagnosed with ADHD and prescribed a stimulant drug occurred during the 1990s, when the prevalence of physician visits …

Paths To Quality: A Child Care Quality Rating System For Indiana. What Is It's Scientific Basis?, James Elicker

Center for Families Publications

Paths to QUALITY is Indiana’s new statewide child care quality rating system (QRS), first implemented in 2008. The main components of most state QRS programs are: 1) a set of quality standards that apply to home-based and center-based child care; 2) a process for objectively assessing child care quality and maintaining accountability; 3) a system of training and technical assistance to help child care providers improve quality; 4) incentives to encourage providers to reach higher levels of quality; and 5) public information to inform parents about what the QRS is and how to use it when they make child care …

National Security, Child Development, And Intelligence On Intelligence, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article provides a perspective on child development as a national security Issue, efforts to facilitate optimal child development, and the construct of intelligence as an indicator of child development.

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.

Conflict Resolution For Peace: Giving Voice To Young Children, Nancy Alice Grote

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Purpose of the Study. The purμose of the study was to explore six- lo-nine-year-old children's ideas about peace and strategies to resolve conflicts pcaceru\ly. 111 Procedures. Participants in the study were twenty-four first, second, and third graders, twelve girls and tweJve boys, from an urban magnet public school based on the Montessori philosophy. Data were triangulated by three developmentally appropriate activities during semi-structured interviews. Each interview was audio recorded and transcribed into a verbatim transcript. The data were coded and analyzed using the qualitative research computer program, QSR NUD*IST/N4 Classic. Findings. Two themes emerged from the analysis of the data, …

Trends. Spillover: Is United States Government Military Aid To Colombia All Wet?, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article discusses spillover of conflicts in Colombia into surrounding countries as related to United States government military aid.

Wave Of A Troubled Juvenile Future, Porcher L. Taylor Iii

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

In the violent wake of the recent slaughter in Springfield, Ore., America faces a future wave of juvenile terrorism from Internet-self-trained, Timothy McVeigh-determined and Unabomber-technically-savvy adolescents intent on getting even with a society they deem responsible for their low self-esteem.

An Exploratory Study Of The Effects Of Parenting Relationships On Children's School Adjustment, Raymond M. Lappin, Lisa J. Posner, Marcia S. Smith

Dissertations and Theses

As indicated in the National Vital Statistics Report of April 1973, the rate of divorces involving minor children is increasing rapidly in this country. Consequently, concern about the effects of divorce on children has been growing. In 1974, a collaborative effort between the Clackamas County (Oregon) Circuit Court and the Portland State University National Justice Educational Development Project was begun to study the impact of divorce on children and their parents (IDCAP). Heading the team of researchers are Stanley N. Cohen, Ph.D., and Nolan Jones, Research Associate. Of special interest to Cohen and Jones is the parenting relationship of the …

An Exploratory Study Of Runaway Female Adolescents In A Residential Treatment Center, Mary E. Cook, Stan Jasper

Dissertations and Theses

If correctional institutions are to function according to established criteria, that is, to "correct" the deviant behavior of juvenile delinquents, then one obvious requirement is to have continuous contact with that individual over a period of time. This research project is one attempt to study runaways from the juvenile delinquent girls institution. This study specifically focuses on what factors influence a girl to run away and what factors encourage her to stay at Villa St. Rose.

Both researchers discovered in working at Villa St. Rose that one the biggest obstacles for the treatment program was the number of runaways that …

The Negative Effects Of Divorce On The Behavior Of Children, David Hawkins, Karen Lloyd

Dissertations and Theses

Our study is concerned with the effects of filing for divorce on the behavior of children. We are interested in the adjustment of the child to the changes which occur during separation and divorce, and we maintain the attitude that the lives of children are affected in some way when a marriage or family unit dissolves. A generally accepted belief is that divorce produces negative consequences in the lives of children as shown in their behavior. However, recently a number of studies have suggested that divorce need not be a negative experience, at least to the degree most people feel …

Pretesting A Questionnaire At The Solo Center On The Impact Of Divorce On Children And Parents, Shirley Anne Paetzhold

Dissertations and Theses

This study was concerned with the impact of divorce on parents and children. The writer spent a minimum of sixteen hours per week from September, 1974 to May, 1975 in field work at the Solo Center, as part of the requirements for a Master’s Degree in Social Work at Portland State University. Multiple areas of interest for research at the Center narrowed to a focus on the closely interwoven problems of child custody, child support, and visitation.

A Preliminary Evaluation Of The Independent Living Subsidy Program In The Model Cities Area, W. Patrick Frawley, Mary Goodwin Gossart

Dissertations and Theses

This is a descriptive and analytical study of the twelve adolescents who have participated in the Independent Living Subsidy Program (ILSP) in the Model Cities area of Portland. It is an assessment of the program’s impact on the adolescents in working toward the goals of independence and self-sufficiency.

The concept of a program which would subsidize out-of-home care for certain adolescents in living facilities of their own, with a measure of independence, was conceived by a caseworker at the Children’s Services Division (CSD) and an administrator of a children’s residential care facility.

A Study Of Runaways From Six Residential Treatment Agencies, Loris Colbath, Carolyn Krugel Graf, Carol Mckinnon, Jean Newcomb

Dissertations and Theses

The purposes of this study were: (1) to examine a select sample of both runaways and nonrunaways at six Oregon residential treatment facilities; (2) to determine the amount and type of preplacement visitation and counseling done within these agencies; (3) to determine the effect preplacement visitation and counseling has upon the studied sample of runaways and nonrunaways in decreasing or controlling the number of runs from the agencies involved; and (4) to determine significant characteristics between runaway and nonrunaway populations.

Testing materials included a two-part questionnaire, part of which was developed with girls from one of the participating agencies.

Running, …