<p> Boys who were sexually abused in childhood are three times as likely to report substance use problems that are associated with poor mental and physical health as well as academic, vocational, and interpersonal difficulties. A review of literature revealed commonly held beliefs that (a) boys are not vulnerable to childhood sexual abuse; (b) boys are collaborators more so than victims; (c) sexual activity is a rite of passage for boys; (d) sexual activity is synonymous with masculinity. Self-blame may be the result of these patriarchal and misogynistic cultural norms. This study hypothesized that forgiveness can replace substance use as a coping strategy. </p><p> This research examined the relationship between substance use problems, family communication, and forgiveness in men who were sexually abused in childhood. The sample consisted of 406 men who completed an anonymous survey distributed via national support and advocacy organizations. Variables were measured with the CAGE-AID; the Family Communication Scale, Heartland Forgiveness Scale, and the Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire. Three dimensions of forgiveness were assessed, (a) forgiveness of self; (b) forgiveness of others; (c) forgiveness of situations. </p><p> Findings revealed statistical significance (p = .030) that forgiveness of self is inversely related to substance use problems in men who were sexually abused in childhood. Logistic regression analysis indicated that family communication, forgiveness of others, and forgiveness of situations did not contribute to substance use problems in this sample. Results suggest that higher scores for forgiveness of self are related to lower rates of substance use problems.</p><p>

<p> Using US General Social Survey (GSS) data gathered between 2002 and 2014, this study investigates the determinant of women and men&rsquo;s job satisfaction and develops several hypotheses about the effects of children on men and women&rsquo;s job satisfaction. The primary theoretical background of the thesis is built upon gender division and job satisfaction literature and seeks to develop hypotheses about the perceptions of men and women regarding child-rearing and perceived effects of their professional life on their preschool-age children. This study found that a woman&rsquo;s job satisfaction is more likely to affect her perception that preschool-age children experience negative effects from her work than a man. This finding indicates that gender is an important factor that influences one&rsquo;s perception of their children&rsquo;s well-being in relation to their job satisfaction. The study also found that the number of children does not have a significant effect on men&rsquo;s job satisfaction, but is significantly and positively related to women&rsquo;s job satisfaction. Data collected in this study show that a woman&rsquo;s perception of whether her children are suffering from her work is more likely to affect her job satisfaction than a man&rsquo;s. After controlling for personal and job characteristics, multivariate analysis indicates gender is a significant predictor of women and men&rsquo;s job satisfaction. Policy implications regarding these conclusions are also discussed in the study.</p><p>

<p> The main objective of this dissertation is to examine patterns of residential segregation, housing turnover, and neighborhood connection by race/ethnicity and family structure. Only two studies have examined residential outcomes by family structure, and both of these studies have focused on residential segregation and use cross-sectional data from the 2000 Decennial Census (Iceland et al. 2010; Marsh and Iceland 2010). In order to address these limitations, the current study asks two main research questions, (1) does family structure have a relationship with residential outcomes (residential segregation, housing turnover, and neighborhood connection) over and above race/ethnicity? And (2) does family structure have a relationship with residential outcomes (residential segregation, housing turnover, and neighborhood connection) in conjunction with race/ethnicity? </p><p> To address these questions, I perform three sets of analyses. The first uses the 1990, 2000, and 2010 Decennial Census data and 2006&ndash;2010 American Community Survey (ACS) data drawn from the Neighborhood Change Database (NCDB) and the National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS) to examine residential segregation between white, black, and Hispanic married-couple and female-headed families conducting Theil&rsquo;s H and isolation index analyses. In addition to these aggregate-level segregation analyses, my dissertation examines segregation at the micro-level by exploring patterns of housing turnover for 12 family types, white, black, and Hispanic two-parent, female-headed, SALA, and extended family households using the 2007 to 2011 panels of the American Housing Survey (AHS). These analyses allow me to explore micro-level change that may take place even as aggregate-level segregation analyses remain consistent. Finally, my analyses consider the context in which families live by exploring neighborhood connection variation for families between white, black, and Hispanic married-couple, female-headed, SALA, cohabiting-couple, and extended-family households in the 2013 AHS. These analyses conceptualize neighborhood connection as collective efficacy (measures of social cohesion and social control). </p><p> Overall, I find race/ethnicity to be the most salient factor in predicting residential outcomes, but that family structure plays an important role and should be considered in future analyses. My results suggest white married-couple families are most advantaged in the housing market, and that they likely use this relative advantage to access the &ldquo;best&rdquo; neighborhoods and may be restricting the access of other white family types as well as minority families. This self- segregation by white married-couple families, in conjunction with an avoidance of black female- headed families, maintains residential segregation, constrains housing turnover to generally &ldquo;like&rdquo; households (those of the same race/ethnicity and family structure), and results in variation in neighborhood connection with white married-couple families having relatively greater social cohesion, and black female-headed families having the lowest social cohesion scores.</p><p>

<p> In Guam, the Chamoru have weathered centuries of change in the political and educational arenas. This study explored ways parents assisted their children at home and in school to understand the perspectives and approaches of parents in Guam. The sample consisted of 10 Chamoru parents. The purpose of this study was to address the question of how these parents define and enact involvement in their elementary-aged children&rsquo;s academic lives. This qualitative multi-case study included interviews, and a majority of the sample was from rural rather than urban settings. Findings revealed parents being involved with both outside and inside of school activities.</p><p>

<p> This dissertation served two purposes. The first purpose was to examine the relationships between the two dimensions of family communication patterns (i.e., conversation orientation and conformity orientation) and four student classroom communication behaviors (i.e., out-of-class communication, in-class oral participation, instructional dissent, and students&rsquo; motives to communicate with their instructors). The second purpose of this dissertation was to investigate academic resilience as a mediator in the relationship between family communication patterns and student classroom communication behaviors. It was discovered that students&rsquo; family conversation orientation was associated positively with their oral participation and the relational, functional, participatory, and excuse-making motives to communicate with instructors. Conversation orientation was associated negatively with vengeful dissent. Students&rsquo; conformity orientation was positively associated with their use of vengeful dissent and the relational, participatory, excuse-making, and sycophantic motives to communicate with instructors. It was also discovered that conformity orientation moderated the relationship between conversation orientation and academic resilience. Additionally, a conditional indirect effect was discovered in the relationship between conversation orientation and the functional motive to communicate with instructors through academic resilience, as it was conditional upon levels of conformity orientation. These results and implications were discussed in light of existing research findings on family communication patterns, academic resilience, and students&rsquo; classroom communication behaviors. The results of this dissertation should be interpreted with caution due to the structural validity issues of the instruments and the data collection procedures.</p><p>

abstract: Although social learning and attachment theories suggest that parent-adolescent relationships influence adult romantic relationships, research on this topic is limited. Most research examining relations between mother-adolescent and father-adolescent relationship quality and young adult romantic relationship quality has found significant effects of mother-adolescent relationship quality. Findings on fathers have been less consistent. These relations have not been examined among youth who experienced parental divorce, which often negatively impacts parent-child relationships and romantic outcomes. Further, no prior studies examined interactive effects of mother-adolescent and father-adolescent relationship quality on romantic attachment. The current study used longitudinal data from the control group of a randomized controlled trial of a preventative intervention for divorced families to examine unique and interactive effects of mother-adolescent and father-adolescent relationship quality on young adult romantic attachment. The 72 participants completed measures of mother-adolescent relationship quality and father-adolescent relationship quality during adolescence (ages 15-19), and completed a measure of romantic attachment (anxiety and avoidance) during young adulthood (ages 24-28). Findings revealed significant interactive effects of mother-adolescent and father-adolescent relationship quality on young adult romantic anxiety. The pattern of results suggests that having a high quality relationship with one's father can protect children from negative effects of having a low quality relationship with one's mother on romantic anxiety. These results suggest the importance of examining effects of one parent-adolescent relationship on YA romantic attachment in the context of the other parent-adolescent relationship. Exploratory analyses of gender revealed that father-adolescent relationship quality significantly interacted with gender to predict romantic avoidance; this relation was stronger for males. These results suggest that nonresidential fathers play an important role in adolescents' working models of relationships and their subsequent romantic attachment. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Psychology 2013

<p> This study investigated parents&rsquo; experiences, challenges, benefits, and needs regarding their child&rsquo;s voice output communication aid (VOCA). Three mothers who had children who use a VOCA device as their primary form of communication were recruited from Goodwill of Orange County&rsquo;s Technology Exchange Center and Prentke Romich Company (PRC) and were interviewed by phone or email questionnaire. Thematic analysis of the interview data revealed four major themes: (a) benefits of VOCA use, (b) barriers to VOCA use, (c) facilitators of VOCA use, and (d) continuing needs of families. The information obtained from this study can be used to better serve families and children who use VOCAs and other AAC devices to avoid barriers (e.g., insufficient training) and abandonment and to foster more successful outcomes. Further research is necessary to continue to investigate the needs of parents in terms of their child&rsquo;s device as well as the effectiveness of device training programs.</p><p>

Traditionally criminological inquiry has excluded the voices of female partners of imprisoned men, leaving their lived experiences and impacts of incarceration unacknowledged. This is a disturbing oversight in light of the stigmatization of this group both by the correctional system and in society. This thesis is an exploratory study that seeks to capture some of the experiences and challenges faced by female partners of male prisoners to shed light on their lived realities. In order to do so, this study has built upon symbolic interactionism, by drawing on Goffman's concept of stigma, the more recent theorizing around this concept as well as the issue of resistance. This theoretical framework has provided a useful lens through which to examine how structural stigma and interpersonal stigma are experienced by female partners of prisoners. The research is a qualitative study. Five female partners of male prisoners were interviewed regarding their experiences, challenges, and negotiations in the correctional and social spheres. The findings were analyzed and ultimately broken down into four sections: the challenges experienced in corrections and in the social realm, the hardships of intimate relations related to incarceration and the positive side to enforced separation. The analysis revealed that the experiences and coping strategies of women partners of prisoners are diverse. Further, structural stigma and interpersonal stigma (in particular the use of search technologies) were significantly present. In response to these challenges the study highlights that the women engaged in numerous tactics of overt and covert resistance. The findings, while recognizing the agency of these women also speaks to the imperative need for Corrections to humanize their policies and practices.

Abstract not available.

<p> The doctoral project was developed to determine the extent to which over sixty-years-of-age members of First Presbyterian Church in Fresno, California perceived they received the five elements of &ldquo;The Blessing,&rdquo; described by authors Gary Smalley and John Trent in their books by the same name. Perceived adult quality of life was also assessed. These were measured using a twenty-item questionnaire, administered to 151 participants. The questionnaire had ten questions about receiving &ldquo;the blessing&rdquo; elements before the age of twenty and ten questions about adult quality of life. The Q1&ndash;Q10 (X) and the Q11&ndash;20 (Y) were evaluated using a Pearson Correlation Formula. Percentage of rates (1&ndash;5 corresponding to Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree) for each of the twenty items were calculated. Fourteen respondents who volunteered in response to the researcher&rsquo;s invitation were interviewed to expand on their perception of blessing and quality of life. The researcher discovered that in this population, there was a moderate positive correlation between early experiences of blessing and adult quality of life. Exceptions to this observation are noted. The researcher recommends that a six- to eight-week educational/experimental class be offered to the population so they have a clear understanding of &ldquo;The Blessing&rdquo; and are better equipped to administer it to others. A similar program will be offered at The Terraces at San Joaquin Gardens retirement community.</p><p>