Parents with adolescents often find themselves caught in the stress and strain that normally accompanies this stage of life. It is when parents cannot meet the demands of troubled adolescents that they find themselves seeking family therapy. Most of what is reported about the process of therapy continues to be from the therapist's or reseacher's perspective. There has been an increased interest in what clients have to say about their experiences. The purpose of this study was to develop a detailed description of how parents of adolescents who attended family therapy in private practice settings viewed their experiences. Fifteen parents who had been to therapy with their adolescent were recruited by their therapist to be interviewed for this study. A multicase qualitative design and constructivist theoretical framework guided the investigation. The constant comparative analysis was used to develop four core categories that described the subtitles of parents' therapeutic experience. Five case stories illustrated the core categories and parents' quotes were used to further embellish the findings. The findings included parents' experiences prior to beginning therapy, during therapy as well as reflections in retrospect. The pre-therapy presentation, based on expectations and past experiences in treatment, affected the way parents initially approached therapy. A supportive therapeutic climate was necessary for parents to trust and become open to possibilities and do the hard work required to make changes. The story of their current experience was part of the family therapy process. Parents recognized changes and what they valued about their experiences in family therapy. / Master of Science

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2999-01-01

My personal experience on loss inspired me to consider how parents who lose children to cancer, accidents, or other terrible things are able to deal with the loss. Where did they go for support? How did they learn to cope with the loss for a lifetime? As I dealt with my loss, I went to therapy and opted for a prescription free treatment. I dove deeper into yoga and meditation and I recognized that therapy was helping but was not enough. The only thing that truly made me feel better was physically moving my body. I felt some satisfaction from recognizing this, yet I felt alone on my journey. Time passed and one afternoon during my weekly practice of yoga, I had a pivotal Matsyasana (fish pose) with the crown of my head submerged in the shoreline of St. Augustine Beach. It became clear to me that the I needed to use my thesis to create a healing place to unify bereaved parents. I desired it, and knew that others around me did as well. That sunny afternoon the idea of a holistic support center was conceived. / Master of Architecture

This study examined how parents experienced their first child's transition to adolescence. A multiple-case qualitative research design was chosen to examine parents' experiences. Family systems theory and family stress and coping theory provided a theoretical starting point. Participants were recruited who had adolescents between ages 13 and 16 and saw their family as normally stressed, indicated in part by an absence of court involvement, substance abuse issues, school failure, and participation in therapy. Ten families were selected: parents from eight of these families participated in focus groups, and five sets of parents were interviewed in their homes. The grounded theory approach to qualitative inquiry developed by Glaser and Strauss guided data collection and analysis. This study identified a complex array of intrapersonal, interpersonal, and contextual factors involved in parents' experience of this transition. A theoretical model was developed to illustrate how specific components of parents' experiences might be interrelated. The process seemed to be initiated when the parents noticed a physical, social/emotional, or relational change in their teenager. Parents responded to the perceived change through their affect, cognition, and behavior. They interpreted what was happening by processes of evaluation, reorientation, and frame. These three components-perception, response, and interpretation-were seen to interact with elements of past and current family context, such as expectations, family dynamics, family of origin influences, and sociocultural change. The overall process involved parents' attempts to regain family equilibrium at different levels of adolescent autonomy and progress toward anticipated future teen changes in ways that either enhance or diminish family cohesion. / Master of Science

The current study examines the consumer socialization practices of American parents, and provides an analysis of the various ways in which they socialize their children into a consumer role within the family. Drawing from literature on gendered patterns of consumerism, familial consumer socialization, and the culture of money, this study's aim is to describe how parents teach their children to enter a consumer role, how to spend, save, and budget money, and how to culturally value (or devalue) money and wealth. This study also explores whether children's gender or differences by socioeconomic status (SES) play a part in how parents socialize their children into a consumer role. Twenty five parents were interviewed and answered questions regarding the actual tools, methods, and strategies they employ in their children's socialization into a consumer role, such as whether parents shop with their children, set allowances, or assist children in opening savings and checking accounts. Additional questions assessed the meanings parents give to money and a consumer role, such as whether parents stress the importance or the vanity of wealth. This analysis contributes to existent knowledge about the nuanced ways in which parents socialize their children as competent consumers, and has implications for familial relationships and gender and class inequality in regards to family and consumer activities. / Ph. D.

Parent involvement in school has proven its effectiveness (Jeynes, 2012). Students whose parents are involved tend to present better behavior at school and achieve higher quality of homework and schoolwork (Cancio, West and Young, 2004; Epstein 2001). In the case of children transitioning to kindergarten, parent involvement can help them overcome adjustment difficulties and receive the support they need to succeed (Patel and Corter, 2013). In order to increase parent involvement among parents of children transitioning to kindergarten, school counselors, teachers and other school personnel can benefit from understanding how parents perceive parent involvement and what experiences they are having as their children transition to kindergarten. The purpose of this study was to describe, using a qualitative approach, how parents of children transitioning to kindergarten perceive parent involvement and how they have been experiencing parent involvement during this transition. This study included the participation of ten parents whose children were enrolled in kindergarten in a public school in Southern California. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed through the process of coding. Findings showed that there are different ways of parent involvement and that such involvement is the result of a teamwork that happens through interactions between the parent, the child, and the school. Moreover, discussions of the findings also revealed that schools that offer services and support to parents during the kindergarten transition help them become more involved parents. Lastly, it was brought to knowledge that parents of children transitioning to kindergarten do not always know about the existence or the role of the school counselor, who could be serving as an important support to these parents and their children. Important implications are offered for school counselors, counselor educators, and kindergarten teachers, as well as recommendations for future research. / Ph. D.

The major purpose of this research was to test the circumplex model of family functioning as a possible source of variance in children's coping during the transitional period following parental divorce. The dimensions of cohesion (family closeness) and adaptability (family flexibility) theoretically incorporate 14 of the 18 factors identified by previous researchers to be related to more or less effective coping. The remaining four factors were controlled statistically. The sample of 89 single parent, female headed households was drawn from court records of families who had been divorced for two months, one year and two years. The method of sample selection is recommended in future research, since it resulted in a more representative sample than that of previous researchers. Coping among the children (ages 6-16) was measured by the mother's report of problem behaviors (internal and external) and social competency scores on the Achenbach Child Behavior Profile. Family interaction patterns were measured using a modified version of the FACES self report measure. Variables of cohesion, adaptability, time since divorce, income, age and sex were hypothesized to be related to child behavior problems and social competency, using a regression model. Social desirability was controlled statistically. Cohesion explained a statistically significant portion of the variance for problem behaviors, particularly internal problems (i.e., withdrawal, somatic symptoms, anxious behavior). Income was an important contributor to variation with all the coping measures. However, the regression models did not provide support for the moderate versus extreme levels of cohesion and adaptability which had been hypothesized in the circumplex model. But, a Chi Square test of independence, excluding families with high social desirability scores, did provide some support for the continued testing of the circumplex model. A supplemental analysis of other variables was conducted. Family stressors such as moving, parent conflict, mothers' changes in employment and mothers' regularly dating were related to increased difficulties in coping. Enjoyment with visits with father was related to improved coping. Number of changes in child care arrangements and frequency of visits with the father were not related to coping. / Ph. D.

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2999-01-01

A study through short stories of the emotional effects on close family relationships before and after a traumatic death.

This qualitative case study examines academic performance effectiveness (or lack of effectiveness) of a charter school based on the perceptions of the administrator and teachers. This study explores what they perceived to be effective/ineffective, the reasons for this effectiveness/ineffectiveness, and the solutions to any identified challenges/problems at their charter school as they relate to students' academic performance. The participants in the study were from one charter school in a charter school system in North Central Texas. The study utilized surveys and interviews as sources of data that revealed administrator and teacher perception of what they considered to be the strengths and weaknesses of the school, factors accounting for the strengths and weaknesses, and possible solutions to the weaknesses of their charter school as related to students' academic performance. Five perceived strengths were identified to be instruction, curriculum, personnel, mission statement, and parent involvement. Likewise, three perceived weaknesses were identified to be instruction, curriculum, and parent involvement. Recommendations of the study for practitioners included recruitment and employment of preservice teachers from colleges and universities, partnering with alternative certification programs, creating a program of professional development, creating professional learning communities, creating a parent committee, and partnering with local agencies and community businesses. Implications for future research included similar analysis of schools within the same charter school system, analysis of a charter school within another charter school district and replicating this study with the addition of parents.