The thesis presents rich empirical analysis of the role of public relations in facilitating participation in social change in the Arab Gulf. The focus is on what public communication approaches are used and how they are regarded from the perspectives of the key social actors. It presents an historical and sociological background of public communication and media in the Arab Gulf. Moreover, it provides in-depth analysis of two empirical case studies in the Arab Gulf: Ghiras, the national drugs prevention programme in Kuwait, and Be Free, the voluntary anti-child abuse programme in Bahrain. This thesis relates the practice of public communication in the Arab Gulf society to Arabic culture and ethics. The thesis uses a qualitative constructivist paradigm to “re-construct” the multiple realities initially constructed by social actors in the cases to provide original insights on the role of public communication and public relations in social change in the Arab Gulf. It presents a new perspective of 'social change' in the two cases that is tied to Islamic ethics. Besides, it re-constructs original Arabic-oriented understanding of 'relational' and 'persuasion' approaches, which differs from the Western paradigm. One of the key contributions of the thesis is its adaptation of relevant Western communication models to the empirical Arab Gulf cases to identify some of the crucial factors of the practice and role of public communication in the Arab Gulf. The unique contribution of this thesis is that it develops a greater understanding of alternative cultural context that might contribute to the adaptations of existing theory and therefore a first step towards new models. It introduces a theoretical framework for other scholars to develop an Arabic public communication ethics theory and to build up a cultural model of the practice of public communication and public relations in the Arab Gulf. The thesis generates key theoretical implications that contribute to the theoretical discussion on the value and role of media, public relations, social marketing, and public communication in the Arab Gulf society at the age of globalisation.

This project focuses on the impact of family preservation programs on family functioning through a qualitative follow up study of the Child Abuse Prevention Intervention and Treatment (CAPIT) program at Pacific Clinics in Yucca Valley, California. The results found that family functioning (particularly in areas of interpersonal skills and communication) had improved since completion of the program. Improvement was correlated with the service content of the program and with counselor characteristics. Due to limitations, including sample size (n=9), results cannot be generalized.

This project assesses the need for evaluating the Family Nurturing Program for its effectiveness with the Riverside County Dependency Recovery Drug Court (DRDC) participants and their children.

Adolescent alcohol abuse increases across the adolescent years. If left unchecked, alcohol abuse can give rise to delinquency, poor grades, and risky sexual behavior (Stueve & O’Donnell, 2005; Ellickson, Tucker, & Klein, 2003). Past research suggests that minimal parental oversight increases the risk for adolescent alcohol abuse. There is also evidence, however, that parents withdraw from oversight in the face of adolescent problem behaviors (Barber & Olsen, 1997; Hafen & Laursen, 2009). Each may vary according to the child’s physical development. Parents may respond to pubertal maturation with reduced supervision and early maturing girls may be sensitive to parent supervision because of the additional pressures and attention they receive from older, possibly deviant, peers (Stattin, Kerr, & Skoog, 2011). / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2014. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

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