<p> This thesis examines the psychosocial and cultural factors behind body modification practices of breast augmentation, female circumcision, and foot binding in order to understand the growing trend of cosmetic surgery. Body modification is examined through the lens of Albert Bandura&rsquo;s social learning theory using hermeneutic methodology that analyzes quantitative and qualitative data. Cross-cultural research on breast augmentation, female circumcision, and foot binding provides insight into how body modification practices are internalized through observational learning. The findings demonstrate that women are faced with social pressures to conform to physical ideals that often require modification of the body. Bandura&rsquo;s theory of self-efficacy provides insights into how women can exercise choice, personal agency, and self-direction to guide personal decisions pertaining to cosmetic surgery within the context of social pressures.</p>

<p> The aim of this study was to contribute to the literature on the relationship between client pretreatment expectations and psychotherapy attendance. It investigated the construct validity of the Milwaukee Psychotherapy Expectancy Questionnaire - Brief (MPEQ-B; Marsden, 2014) and the value of Therapeutic Relationship Expectations and Change Expectations as predictors of intake attendance and the number of therapy sessions attended. Adult clients (n = 102) calling to schedule an intake appointment at a local community mental health center completed a survey of pre-treatment expectations (MPEQ-B) and psychological distress (Outcome Rating Scale, Miller &amp; Duncan, 2000). Other variables (e.g., wait-time, previous therapy experience, number of sessions attended, and demographic variables) were collected from the clients' electronic medical record (EMR). Confirmatory factor analysis of the MPEQ-B supported a two-factor model, which was consistent with previous research (Marsden, 2013; 2014). Logistic regression revealed that client Change Expectations was the only variable to uniquely predict intake attendance. Pre-therapy attrition was more likely for clients with higher ratings of Change Expectations. Multiple regression results indicated that only previous therapy attendance was a statistically significant predictor of number of sessions attended. Overall, these findings advance the literature on client expectations as a multidimensional common factor related to client therapy attendance (intake session and total number of sessions attended). These results also highlight the need for programmatic research using the Milwaukee Psychotherapy Expectancy Questionnaire (MPEQ; Norberg, Wetterneck, Sass, &amp; Kanter, 2011) and MPEQ-B, as well as measures of other types of client expectations, to better understand the influence of client expectations on a range of clinical variables.</p>

<p> Psychological struggle seems to be an inherent part of the human experience. Unfortunately, the public attitude towards the obese focuses more on negative stereotypes (e.g., undisciplined, ugly, stupid, and lazy) than on the underlying psychological components that lie at the heart of the struggle. Negative stereotypes like these have an affect upon the way the obese think about themselves and may lead to self-stigmatization, which in turn may interfere with a person's attempt to gain control of their health and emotional well-being when eating is used to relieve the associated distress. Many people who struggle with their weight are found to be very rigid in their thought processes regarding food. Perhaps it is not the content of food and body-related cognitions that is important, but the inflexibility with which they are held.</p><p> The current study will investigate the relationships among avoidant eating behavior, perceived stigmatization, self-stigmatization, and psychological flexibility. Participants will be recruited from a population of obese individuals who are seeking help at a bariatric clinic, and from Facebook. Participants will initially complete a packet of questionnaires on psychological flexibility, perceived stigmatization, self-stigmatization, and eating behavior online. Then for seven days they will receive four text messages a day for seven days, three of which will provide them with a link to the Periodic Assessment of Stigmatizing Experiences, and one text message providing a link to the Daily Eating Survey. It is hypothesized that 1) Perceived stigmatizing experiences (i.e., a fear of enacted stigma from society) will predict disordered eating 2) Weight- and food-related psychological inflexibility will moderate the relationship between perceived stigmatizing experiences and disordered eating 3) Self-stigma (i.e., self-devaluation due to perceived stigmatization from society) will moderate the relationship between perceived stigmatizing experiences and disordered eating 4) Psychological inflexibility will predict increased perceived self-stigma.</p>

<p> There is a limited amount of research in psychology regarding the impact of money on the therapeutic relationship. Although some research regarding clients&rsquo; transference vis-&agrave;- vis money exists, clinicians&rsquo; countertransference concerning money has been largely ignored. As money and discussion of fees often generate negative countertransference for clinicians, it is likely that this material will not be addressed in the clinicians&rsquo; personal work, and therefore it risks being harmful to the therapy process. The author&rsquo;s goal is to demystify the subject of money in the clinical setting and make it easier for clinicians to discuss money, fees, and the financial aspects of therapy with their clients, while minimizing the harmful impacts of therapists&rsquo; countertransference on the therapeutic frame. Using heuristic and hermeneutic methodologies, the author uses his own experiences as a nascent therapist to illustrate some ways for clinicians to address and minimize the negative impact of their money issues on their work. </p>

<p> This study added to the literature on pathways to prison by examining a sample of federal inmates to assess whether the pathways identified predicted future antisocial behavior, i.e., prison misconduct and post-release criminal activity. Previous research has generally focused on only one point in the criminal justice system, either identifying pathways to prison, analyzing behavior while incarcerated, or focusing on post-release offending. This research examined all of these points. The research presented here identified both unique and overlapping pathways to prison for men and women, as well as similarities and differences in the risk factors that predicted prison misconduct and recidivism for women and men. </p><p> While the latent class models, which identified the pathways to prison, relied heavily upon indicators highlighted in the gender-responsive literature, the final misconduct and recidivism models included those factors along with traditional, gender-neutral items. The methods in this research moved beyond previous studies that relied primarily on bivariate analyses of female inmates. </p><p> Four pathways emerged for both men and women each. Three of the pathways overlapped for both groups: drug, street, and the situational offender pathways. Males and females each had one unique pathway which represented opposite ends of the criminal experiences spectrum. A first time offender pathway emerged for women; a more chronic, serious offender pathway emerged for men. When the pathways to prison were the only predictors in the misconduct and recidivism models, the pathways consistently and significantly predicted antisocial behavior. Once the socio-demographic and criminal history factors were added to the models, however, the vast majority of the pathway effects on antisocial behavior were no longer statistically significant. </p><p> Because the current literature presents mixed results as to whether the same factors predict offending for men and women, this study analyzed gendered aspects of prison misconduct and recidivism. There were more differences than similarities in the factors that significantly impacted these antisocial behaviors. </p>

<p> I would like to think that I chose this study to add to the literature on human development in the prison system. However, I would have to say that the study chose me. It became a deep discovery of what is required for human beings to grow within the context of a prison setting and afterwards in the community. The study explored the life history of an Aboriginal woman once considered to be a volatile, violent, and unmanageable female prisoner by the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC). Changing her life she became a valued volunteer within that prison system.</p><p> Human growth and development must be considered with attention to the exogenous influences of all the systems people have to negotiate. I walked with Lora for 14 years: 7 while in custody and 7 afterwards until her death in 2013. During that time she became a mother, a volunteer, peer researcher, cancer patient, and always a teacher.</p><p> Since the 1970s there has been a pervasive decline in recognizing rehabilitation potential in people with lives plagued by addictions and the crimes supporting them. I observed the opposite: hundreds of lives changed for the better. There are interventions that kindle the flame and support a fire in people to build a healthy, productive life. Society has a responsibility to fan that fire, rather than feeding the despondency and hopelessness so prevalent in our prisons. </p><p> Information was gathered from interviews with Lora, video and audio recordings, her journals and poetry. Interviews were also conducted with family to gain clarity of her childhood and complex trauma history and with people who walked with her after prison to elucidate her change process.</p><p> The study encompassed literature from modern, post-modern, and Aboriginal epistemology, integrating theory from multiple disciplines. What emerged was how powerful the deleterious influences of complex childhood trauma are, in all domains, over the life span. Counteracting this damage most significantly are the mechanisms of hope and the inspiration of believing in the possibility for successful and lasting change: This is the key-stone to the archway through which people re-enter the community from prison.</p>

<p> The purpose of this phenomenological study is to increase understanding of what therapists encounter and learn about their own psyche as a result of their work with borderline patients. The overarching goal of this research explores the impact of these relationships on the therapist's psyche in order to generate information that can be utilized in the training process of therapists who work with BPD patients as well as to elicit information that could possibly be useful to families, parents, and partners of people diagnosed with BPD. The self-knowledge accumulated by therapists in regard to their own process can inform others engaged in a relationship with borderline patients. The researcher investigated the lived experience of six seasoned therapists through in person, individual interviews. The interviews were analyzed using phenomenological data analysis methods to gain an understanding of the lived experience of each participant as well as for identifying themes shared across participants. All of the participants in this study had an increased awareness and recognition of material emerging from the unconscious as a result of their work with BPD. Core themes that emerged in relation to the participants' experience included realizations of their own inner complexes such as <i>the destroyer, the dark shadow of the self.</i> Participants' experience included inner realizations such as <i>getting in touch with loss and grief</i> and <i>having to be fully authentic.</i> Metabolizing these emerging inner realizations allowed participants to report experiences of i<i> ntegration and shifts in relation to the self, shifts in relationship with death, recognition of personal limitations,</i> becoming <i>humbled </i> and <i>centered, increased curiosity and courage,</i> and a newly acquired <i>sense of playfulness and freedom.</i> All of the six participants were able to recognize unconscious aspects of the self that were activated as a result of the work with borderline patients. Three participants enjoyed working with BPD and felt that their patients experienced improvement that contributed to the therapists' sense of satisfaction and reward from the work.</p>

<p> Substance abuse in the United States continues to be a serious topic of concern. However, the efficacy of various substance abuse treatment methods remains inconclusive. As the current literature review has returned no comprehensive recommendations for all types of substance abuse, further empirical studies are merited. The aim of the present study is to investigate the long-term effects of 12-Step group therapy on abstinence rates of heroin addicts. Data from the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research 2258 was analyzed to gain insight into the predictive relationship between 12-Step attendance and abstinence rates; the implication is that future meta-analytic studies may help indicate the most appropriate treatments for specific substance abuse disorders. The hypothesis that 12-Step attendance is a predictive factor for abstinence in this population was supported. Practical implications and future directions were discussed.</p>

<p> The following research involves the experiences of mothers of adults diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. The researcher utilized a generic qualitative interview study to examine a snapshot of the lives of mothers and what their experiences have been raising a child with an autism spectrum disorder into their adult lives. There are limits in this type of research, especially qualitative study that examines this phenomenon. In this study, eight mothers were interviewed, and thematic analysis was utilized to construct and explore outcomes. Themes derived involved: the Selfless Journey; Cadre of Concerns and Opportunities, the Impact of Support, the Balance of Emotions, and the Road to Resilience. The exploration of these themes garnered rich and meaningful data that elucidated experiences that were diverse yet similar in nature. The data of this project were compared and contrasted with theoretical perspectives involving family systems, the concept of resilience, and the double ABCX model of stress and coping.</p>

<p> The study sought to examine the relationship between witnessing verbal marital conflict as a child and behavioral anger responses in adulthood. An underlying premise for the study was that verbal marital conflict could be an underlying cause of developmental and behavioral problems in adults who witnessed verbal marital conflict as a child. Previous studies focused on marital conflict in regards to physical conflict, leaving out verbal conflict. One hundred participants, who acknowledged witnessing verbal marital conflict as children, completed the Novaco Anger Scale (NAS; Novaco, 1994, 2003) and the Children's Perception of Interparental Conflict Scale (CPIC; Grych et al., 1992). Participants showed average anger responses and sometimes low anger responses, which did not show significant correlation with exposure to parental verbal marital conflict as children. The findings provided implications for future research which included conducting another study with the same research question, but using a qualitative approach to provide in-depth knowledge on exposure to verbal marital conflict as a child and behavioral anger responses in adulthood, while also using a quantitative approach to examine the behavioral effect. It further suggested identifying the need for person-centered intervention, and enhancing models of skill training for handling anger and relationships.</p>