This thesis is a report of a study of the employment of foster grandparents for the foster grandparent project at the Denton State School in Denton, Texas. There were three specific interests in the study. First, it attempted to ascertain what criteria were used for the hiring of foster grandparents and how they were hired. Included in this area were the necessary steps which an individual had to take to apply for employment. Second, the study was concerned with developing a general description of the social and economic characteristics of those who were hired as foster grandparents, including their performance on certain tests which they took during the employment process. Third, it examined the relationship of selected social and economic characteristics to each other, the inter-relationships of test performance, and the relationships between the selected characteristics and test performance.

The problem of this study was to evaluate Denton State School's Developmental Evaluation Form as it is now being used in their operant conditioning techniques in certain basic self-help areas, and to suggest a more effective and informative method of scoring the Evaluation Form. The present method of scoring this evaluation form requires that -all items at each developmental level be passed in order to receive credit for that level. No partial credit is given at any level. This method of scoring yields a developmental level at which. the individual is functioning. It does not, however, point out the total overall development of the individual. The present type of basal developmental scoring is not as discriminating as far as picturing an individual's total development as the one which will be suggested.

Previous research suggests that careproviders' attitudes and perceptions significantly influence the type and quality of services received by institutionalized adults with developmental disabilities (IADD). This study explored attitudes careproviders hold concerning training needs of the IADD and their service model orientation. It traced the history of training people with developmental disabilities and provided a brief review of the medical, developmental, and normalization models of service delivery. The conceptual framework upon which this study was based proposed that staff perceptions and orientation concerning service delivery to the IADD can be conceptually related to five factors in a research model. They were identified as: (a) careprovider's characteristics; (b) working environment; (c) previous careprovider experience; (d) developmental disability history within the careprovider's family; and (e) self-reporting of a service delivery orientation. This study examined only a portion of this model (factors a, b, and e). The response sample included 370 professionals and paraprofessionals, aged 17 to 72 years, who were employed at a large residential facility serving individuals with developmental disabilities in Denton, Texas. The respondents were predominantly female (76.5%), Caucasian (72.2%) with slightly less than 75% having more than a high school diploma. The instrument, a self-administered questionnaire, consisted of three parts; Careprovider's Service Model Orientation; Careprovider's Perception of Training Needs; and, Demographic Information. Data were analyzed through the use of regression, chi square, and analysis of variance tests. Findings revealed several significant relationships between: professional status and perceptions of training needs of the IADD; professional status and service model orientation; professional status and reported service model orientation; professional status and attitude toward the medical model; and, professional status and attitude toward the developmental model. Significant relationships were not found for four additional hypotheses that were included the study.

This study assessed the predictive validity of four independent factors (Rotter Locus of Control Scale, Safety Locus of Control, Organizational Attribution Style Questionnaire, and Rosenburg Self-Esteem Scale) in the establishment of a measure of safety consciousness in predicting on-the-job injuries and the filing of workers' compensation claims. A 125-item questionnaire was designed and administered to assess participants' disposition on each of the four psychological dimensions, demographic data and on-the-job injury information.