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This dissertation presents the results of a study designed to explore women's experience of spirituality in the light of current thought on women's psychological development. While women's development and women's spirituality are both newly emerging fields of study with growing bodies of literature, little has been done to integrate them. The dissertation included a broad review of the literature of women's development and women's spirituality in which a dominant theme of relationship emerged. Qualitative research was done with eight participants. Data consisted of in-depth interviews which were condensed into profiles, and then analyzed for themes, sequences and patterns of spiritual development. From the comparison of the analyses with each other and with the theories of psychological development two central themes were chosen for elaboration in the dissertation: a theme of experiential spirituality manifested in everyday life, and a pattern of developing self-identity through expanding awareness of self-in-relation. Expanding awareness of self-in-relation was explicated through the use of a visual model. Four domains of self-in-relation were identified: Self-in relation to self, to other, to the transpersonal realm, and to the Universal. Movement through the domains was complex and interactive rather than linear, and indicated deepening awareness of self, experienced as self-in-relation. Self-in-relation to the Universal was proposed as the definitive awareness for a spiritual orientation toward life. This awareness had a profound effect on other relationship domains. The results also suggested that the theoretical models of the Stone Center, Belenky et al and Gilligan, could each be extended to include another level or aspect of development associated with spiritual awareness.

The purpose of this study was to learn how children between the ages of five and nine construct their understanding of conflict and how to resolve it, how their cognitive development both reflects and shapes this understanding, and how their ideas about conflict develop over time. Open-ended interviews were conducted with two children from each of four grades (K-3) in a Boston Public School in order to elicit the children's ideas about conflict, solutions to conflict, and negotiation. Two drawings of conflicts were used, one in each of two separate interviews, one depicting a conflict over an object, the other an interpersonal conflict. Five cognitive dimensions were used to analyze the interview data. Children's understanding of conflict, solutions to conflict, and negotiation, and the gradual changes in children's thinking over time were analyzed. The five dimensions were: concrete to abstract; from one idea to coordination of multiple ideas; static to dynamic thinking; transductive to logical causal reasoning; and, from one to more than one point of view. The results of this analysis show that with age there was a general progression of the eight children's understanding of conflict, solutions to conflict, and negotiation as they advanced along the five cognitive dimensions. Children's understanding of conflict progressed from more concrete to abstract, and from more discrete and momentary to increasingly embedded in a context of time and other events, ideas and feelings. Children's understanding of solutions to conflict also progressed from concrete to more abstract. In addition, there was an increasing capacity to think of greater numbers of possible solutions to conflict, especially positive solutions, as children moved along the cognitive dimensions. Children's understanding of negotiation progressed from concrete to more abstract, including increasingly complex psychological processes. Children showed a progression in their ability to understand negotiation as a complex process related to both conflicts and solutions. Gender and individual differences among children emerged from the data in addition to developmental differences.

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Adolescents involved in the juvenile justice system often express hope for their future. However, most research on this population centers on negative outcomes, such as being re-arrested or developing mental health problems. The purpose of the current study was to better understand factors that promote positive development of youth involved in the juvenile justice system. Guided by Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory (1979), we examined whether the following variables were associated with well-being: maternal warmth, peer warmth, school bonding, neighborhood conditions, or procedural justice. The current study used data from the Crossroads Study. Participants included 1,216 adolescent male first-time offenders who were arrested in California, Louisiana, or Pennsylvania. Baseline measurements were taken after the participants deposition in court, and follow-up measures were taken 1-year, 2-years, 3-years, 4-years, and 5-years after baseline. Linear curve models with structured residuals were used to assess between- and within- person relations between our ecological predictor variables and well-being. In the current study, well-being was operationalized using Seligman’s PERMA framework, with a measure that adapted this framework for adolescents (Kern et al., 2016). Results indicated that maternal and peer warmth had significant between and within-person effects on well-being. The relation between these constructs and well-being was reciprocal. School bonding had significant between and within-person associations with well-being, but the relation between constructs was unidirectional. Neighborhood conditions and procedural justice were not significantly associated with well-being on a between or within-person level. These results suggest that increasing maternal warmth, peer warmth, and school bonding may increase the well-being of youth involved in the juvenile justice system. Incorporating well-being components into interventions for youth involved in the juvenile justice system is a promising area for future research.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the benefits of being a Senior Peer Counselor, using both questionnaires and interviews. Thirty-six urban/suburban dwelling Senior Peer Counselors were queried about their life satisfaction before and after becoming Senior Peer Counselors. They were compared to a group of thirty-six active seniors living in a rural/suburban community. The increase in senior counselors' level of life satisfaction was statistically significant, however the difference between their final level and that of comparison group members was not statistically significant. Three directors of Senior Peer Counseling programs were interviewed about their perceptions of the benefits of being a Senior Peer Counselor. Two main themes emerged from these interviews. The directors felt that group support had a positive affect on well-being, specifically, training and supervision, and that being a trained peer counselor had a positive affect on personal development. Recommendations are proposed for the development of Senior Peer Counseling programs that would train and utilize volunteer Senior Peer Counselors to have therapeutic relationships with their senior clients, thereby benefiting both.