Thesis (M.A. in educational administration)--Washington State University, August 2010. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on July 28, 2010). "College of Education." Includes bibliographical references (p. 80-87).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Dept. of Psychology. University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2004. / "A dissertation in health psychology and psychology." Advisor: C. Keith Haddock. Typescript. Vita. Title from "catalog record" of the print edition Description based on contents viewed Feb. 28, 2006. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 129-135). Online version of the print edition.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Iowa, 2007. / Supervisor: Diana Fritz Cates. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 74).

Thesis (M.T.S.)--Catholic Theological Union, 1986. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 74).

Alcohol misuse is a public health concern. Many social cognition models explain drinking behaviour using a limited representational model of cognition. Gibson’s Ecological approach does not require representation. Meaning exists at the interplay of brain, body and environment in terms of affordances. Contemporary ideas about Ecological psychology and affordances could be used to understand how individual-environment relations extend and constrain opportunities for consuming alcohol. This research programme comprised three studies: i. Affordances for Drinking Behaviour: A Non-Participant Observation Study in Licensed Premises. A functional, affordance-based approach was used to identify the array of affordances, or action opportunities, observed to be relevant to alcohol consumption in seven UK licensed premises. This study illustrated the normative and functional qualities of these drinking environments for drinking behaviour from the perspective of an independent observer. ii. Individual Perceptions of Alcohol-Related Affordances: Photo- Elicitation Interviews and Phenomenology. Twelve students viewed fifty photographs of a range of licensed premises, describing the function that occurrences had for their drinking behaviour. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis provided an insight into first-person drinking experiences, supporting the alcohol-related affordances identified by the first study and providing an insight into why these were taken up by participants. iii. Alcohol-Related Affordances and Group Subjectivities: A Q- Methodology Approach. 40 students participated in a Q-Methodology study which combined statements from the previous two studies. Four patterns of subjectivity were uncovered. Most participants were aware of alcohol-related affordances, but believed their drinking behaviour to be autonomous. Others were conscious of influences, but compliant to these effects. Some were unaware, acting unanimously with the group, while others were concerned with carrying out behaviour considerate for the context. The findings of this research programme have implications for psychology and, as a global theory of behaviour, provide a more robust theoretical perspective on behavioural determinants for a range of health behaviours.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University

M.A. (Clinical Psychology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Much is written, especially in psychodynamically oriented literature, about the unduly close dependency relationship male alcoholics have with their mothers. Whilst not disputing this it became apparent to myself when working with them that they also expressed strong attachments to their fathers who were described as absent or punitive. The literature goes on to theorize that a repressed homosexual element is often at work in the male alcoholic. Not much more of substance is said about the father other than he may be absent or punitive - even less is mentioned of the male alcoholic's experience with his father. It appears that this relationship has remained largely unexplored as a result of an uncritical imposition of theory, especially psychodynamic, upon the complex phenomenon of alcoholism. These theories generally posit the mother's influence over all problems in living be they neuroses, psychoses or alcoholism. It is possible that a dialogue exists between mother, father and alcoholic son which is more extensive and complex than that currently described in the literature, with father playing a greater role than previously believed.

Adopting a social problems framework, the relation between certain sociological factors and rehabilitation was analyzed for a group of alcoholic patients treated at an out-patient clinic. It was hypothesized that favourable socio-economic characteristics, such as being married and living with wife, being employed, living in acceptable housing, were related to treatment success. Six such factors, one of them a motivational index,were incorporated into a prognostic index by a Danish researcher. This index was replicated with data gathered during interviews with 155 male patients for a follow-up study during 1962/63. Treatment results and factors associated with treatment were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Stepwise regressions showed that socio-economic data combined into an index did not predict treatment outcome with any degree of accuracy for the Canadian sample. Housing, type of spirit consumed and age emerged as a "best" predictor, accounting for roughly 8 per cent of the variance involved in successful treatment outcome. The hypothesis was not confirmed that socio-economic factors are associated with rehabilitation, but it was found that certain social control factors, which are associated with socio-economic factors, are conducive to rehabilitation if treatment is given at out-patient clinics. The inferences drawn from the findings suggested both certain theoretical and practical implications for treatment. These were spelled out in some detail following Talcott Parsons' theory of social control and deviance, and definitions of illness and health in the light of North American values and social structure. / Arts, Faculty of / Sociology, Department of / Graduate