Master of Science / Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology / Christy D. Moran / Maintaining identities of being a Christian and a lesbian or gay has traditionally in mainstream society been considered to be an oxymoron. Yet upon review, a large number of homosexuals profess to be Christians and find strength in their faith. The purpose of this report is create a hypothesis that is developed as a result of a literature review and informal interviews on the identity development and synthesis that occurs for lesbians and gays in the areas of homosexual identity and spiritual identity. To accomplish this task a comparison was made between Anthony D’Augelli’s Model of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Development (1994) and Sharon Daloz Parks Spirituality Development Theory (1986, 2000). Within the confines of this report, key attention was paid to examining whether the developmental critical paths for each area can be visually constructed as parallel lines with independent critical paths occurring simultaneously, if there is only a one line with a singular critical path or if one critical path intersects the other and therefore certain development stage(s) of one model must be completed before the individual can progress in the other model. Findings revealed that in most cases individuals did not move simultaneously on the two developmental paths. Rather, it was necessary for most individuals to be high on either the spiritual identity development model or high on the homosexual identity development model in order to move forward on the other with the goal being to gain a reconciliation between the two identities.

Master of Science / Special Education, Counseling and Student Affairs / Aaron H. Carlstrom / Attending college or university immediately after serving on active duty in the U.S. military can be a challenging transition because the daily roles and responsibilities of active duty service members greatly differ from that of college students. Therefore, the purpose of this report is to provide an accurate portrayal of the experiences and challenges veterans encounter when they leave the armed forces and become students at a college or university. The report is a resource that academic advisors and other student affairs professionals can use to increase their awareness and understanding of veterans’ transition experiences from military life to college life. To achieve this goal, the following are included in the report: (a) a theory driven description of veterans’ needs and concerns as they transition from military to college, and available resources that can facilitate veterans’ transitions; (b) questions advisors should ask themselves and their respective institution regarding how they can better serve this population of students; and (c) three case studies of student-veterans who served at least two, but no more than four, years of active duty in the United States Armed Forces, and who chose to enroll in an institution of higher education shortly after their discharge from the military. The four coping mechanisms, or four S’s (Situation, Self, Support, Strategies), of Schlossberg’s Transition Theory (Schlossberg, Waters, & Goodman, 1995) serve as the organizing framework of the report. Although some articles have touched upon Schlossberg’s transition model to the student-veteran transition (DiRamio, Ackerman, & Mitchell, 2008; Livingston, 2009), none used the model as a framework to organize the relevant literature.

This project dissertation entitled 'Death and Grief: A Proposed 'Cycle of Compassion'' hinged on two hypotheses which received a favorable hearing at the Lakeside United Methodist Church in Huntsville, Alabama January 1990. The first hypothesis stated that the church is the important place for teaching grief awareness and resolution. Hypothesis Two asserted that a cycle of compassion is a process that the minister can develop with the congregation to overcome death and grief. There were several reasons why these hypotheses were operant in this project dissertation. Hypothesis One was validated because people do gather at church and problems with grief will always be a part of the human predicament. Moreover, this hypothesis espoused the belief that grief has to become a conscious reality before it can be resolved. Hypothesis Two rightly assumed that the minister and congregation are human agents of divine comparison to the bereaved. The significance of this study for other congregations lay in the fact that it brought together a coalition of several ministry emphases---evangelism, missions, worship and Christian education---through which the cycle of compassion may find development and fruition. The cycle of compassion fills the void after the crowd thins out and the banquet is over. It also moves immediately to settle down with the griever in an extended period of grief sharing and healing. Through it all, God takes the initiative in putting our shattered lives back together again.

This project that was designed to enhance the development of moral character of African-American children, ages nine to twelve (9-12). For purposes of this dissertation, moral development and character development are used interchangeably. A curriculum was developed for children and one for parents to assist them to help young people reach their potential in regard to moral character development. The underlying principles of the study were moral character, spiritual formation, and faith development. The major premise of the project was that if children feel good about themselves and feel a connection to God, then people will behave better, love themselves and God, and they will make better decisions to negotiate life. This pilot study was conducted at two urban churches. There was a total of 35 children participating in the study, and there were 38 parent participants. The training took place over a sixteen-week period. The results of the study indicate that there was a significant increase in self-esteem among the children. Additionally, findings from the behavioral scale demonstrated a significant positive change in behavior among children. There was also a significant improvement of the parents' level of contentment with their children.

This project dissertation, entitled Death, Dying, and Grieving: Providing a Ministry of Caring, approaches the issue of establishing a ministry of caring for parishioners who are experiencing grief. Also included in this work is how the disciplines of sociology, anthropology, archaeology and psychology have attempted to address the issue of death and grief. A biblical history of death, dying, and grief is discussed and a theological framework for grieving. The dissertation gives a description of the development of a counseling group, support group and all of the intricacies involved in the institution of a ministry of caring for the Mount Ephraim Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology / Fred O. Bradley / The purpose of the current study was to identify if any significant relationships between inspiration, temperament, and positive affect existed. The dependent variable was inspiration, which was measured by the Inspiration Scale (IS). Temperament was measured by the Keirsey Temperament Sorter II and positive affect by the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). One hundred forty-five students attending a large Midwestern university and small community college participated. Initially, participants completed the Keirsey Temperament Sorter II online. The IS and PANAS were administered in the student’s classroom. The data were consequently analyzed to determine if there was a correlation between inspiration and temperament, inspiration and positive affect, and inspiration and the combined effects of temperament and positive affect. The results were mixed: 1. No relationship between inspiration and temperament was discovered. ANOVA results indicated that mean inspiration scores for each temperament did not vary significantly. 2. A relationship was identified between inspiration and positive affect. Regression results suggested a positive linear relationship between inspiration and positive affect scores. 3. When inspiration was correlated with positive affect and temperament combined, no relationship was discovered. A 2 x 4 ANOVA showed no correlation between the variables. The implications these results have on psychology and counseling are discussed, along recommendations for future research. Additionally, limitations of the study, such as inherent risks associated with using self-report measures, are mentioned. The study concludes with a discussion of how future research can investigate inspiration, temperament, and positive affect.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology / Fred O. Bradley / Statistics published in 2003 indicate that over 67% of community college students are first-generation students, students from families where neither parent has graduated from college. First-generation students are disproportionately represented among those who terminate college prior to graduation. This study explores role theory as a model for understanding and addressing the problems of first-generation students. Survey questions linked to role commitment involving intentions to work, commute and participate in campus activities were administered to 257 first-time full-time students: 182 students were first-generation and 75 were non-first-generation. Analysis using the Mann-Whitney U Test indicated first-generation students had significantly less commitment to the role of student. Later, first-generation students were divided into "successful" and "unsuccessful" groups based on their two semester grade point average. The Mann-Whitney U Test failed to demonstrate a significant difference between "successful" and "unsuccessful" first-generation students. The ordinal score responses of first-generation students to the three survey questions were then used as categories and grade point averages of the students in those categories were compared using ANOVA procedures. The results were mixed but suggested further investigation was warranted. The study was concluded with interviews of ten "successful" first-generation students. The interview results were supportive of conclusions drawn from role theory underscoring the value of further studies with larger sample sizes and modifications in methodology suggested by this study.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology / Stephen L. Benton / This study examined the effects of types of therapist disclosure and their interaction with various combinations of observer, therapist, and client gender-dyads on observer ratings of the working alliance. Participants were 357 undergraduate students (60.2% women) from two Midwestern universities who were randomly assigned to one of 12 conditions. Each condition required students to read one of 12 printed scenarios differentiated by all possible combinations of three types of therapist self-disclosure (similar, dissimilar, no disclosure), two levels of therapist gender, and two levels of client gender. Students rated the scenarios on the perceived working alliance between the therapist and the client, using the 36-item Working Alliance Inventory-Observer (WAI-O). A 2 (student sex) x 2 (therapist sex) x 2 (client sex) x 3 (disclosure type) ANOVA revealed no significant effects on the WAI-O total scale score. In addition, no main effects or interactions were found on WAI-O total scale when male and female student scores were pooled. A 2 x 2 x 2 x 3 MANOVA performed on the WAI-O subscales indicated female observers perceived a stronger client-therapist bond for similar than dissimilar disclosures with male clients. Female observers rated male clients with a stronger bond than female clients, but only in the similar disclosure condition. A main effect was also found for observer sex on the Task and Bond subscales. Although this study did not find gender of the observer, type of therapist disclosure, and the gender of the therapist and their client to influence overall working alliance ratings, results suggest that these factors have an impact on female observer ratings of the bond and task agreement between the therapist and their client. Specifically, two findings emerged: (a) women, not men, observed a stronger bond for male client recipients of similar versus dissimilar disclosure; (b) women, not men observed a stronger bond for male client versus female recipients of a therapist's similar disclosure. Results are discussed in terms of disclosure and gender research.

This work seeks to construct and implement in two Baptist churches a viable congregational model for doing youth ministry, which can be used to improve positive self-esteem in Black children, ages ten thru eighteen. Positive self-esteem is examined in the congregational settings by posing and answering six (6) questions: What is Self-Esteem? Who is God? Who am I? Who are you? Who are we in Christ? and What ought we do? These six (6) questions form the essence of positive self-esteem. The model uses family relationships between adult presenters and the intended youth, adult presentations on Christian identity and action in the congregation, field trips, Black history materials in the homes, and visual aids as the vehicles to accomplish the improvement in the positive self-esteem of the youth. The model responds to the threat to positive self-esteem of many of the youth as evidenced by racism and discrimination in American society, the presence of several indicators of negative or low self-esteem, problems in the very institutions that influence positive self-esteem, and adult perceptions of the social environment. It is based on the premise that the church must provide the family with the tools to help our children survive in this society. This will be accomplished by preparing our youth to affirm positive actions that build and affirm positive self-esteem and to reject the negative actions that counter it. This project seeks to use the extended family system and the conjugal family system of the children in their quest for positive self-esteem because of its potential as a positive influence. Finally, this work seeks to place the responsibility of the children in the hands of the entire church family, which is called to actively work to nurture them in this crucial and critical time in their lives.

This dissertation offers an interdisciplinary model of pastoral counseling with 'interdependence' as its organizing principle. This interdisciplinary model relies on the theological concept of Community, according to Howard Thurman, and the psychological issue of dependence as articulated in the Object Relations theory of W. R. D. Fairbairn. Interdependence as a norm for this interdisciplinary Community/Mature Dependence model of pastoral counseling is helpful in that it responds to a need in the field of pastoral counseling for relevant input concerning norms, values and criteria for effective pastoral counseling with persons, particularly those from bi-cultural communities, such as African Americans. In this respect, the African American cultural values of Collective Identity, Family life and Resiliency in Struggle and Suffering form an integral part of this interdisciplinary model. Interwoven with the theological and psychological concepts and the African American cultural values are the clinical cases of two African Americans, a female and a male. These concepts and the cultural values chosen to bring to bear on the counseling relations with these persons are especially helpful due to their focus on the value of communal interrelating and the processes of whole-making. Prominent issues raised in conjunction with the clinical cases are: (1) the fragmentation, splitting and distorted self images that can occur due to improper nurturing in childhood and/or as a result of racism and oppression, (2) the effects of racism and discrimination on personal and familial value systems, and (3) the pain and suffering caused by unresolved conflict involved in the status of being bi-cultural. Howard Thurman, as an African American theologian who, from outside the majority culture and some of its theoretical and cultural constrictions brings to this discussion his unique perspective of Community which grounds all persons and all dimensions of personhood in an Ultimate unity. Thurman, speaking with the insights of one who has suffered racial oppression and discrimination, lifts his voice of sensitive concern and caring to all persons bound in the human condition and outlines the task for the reconciliation of all of creation. Unity, Actualization of Potential, Love and Reconciliation are the four major components of Thurman's concept of Community addressed in this dissertation. My analysis also brings the object relations theory of W. R. D. Fairbairn into dialogue with Thurman, the cultural factors and the clinical data from the two case studies. Fairbairn, deviates from psychoanalytic tradition in that he formulated an alternative interpretation of the core of personality than that advocated by Sigmund Freud. Fairbairn's assertion is that the libidinal ego is first and foremost in need and in search of an satisfying object, i.e., a meaningful and positive relationship with another person. With the help of Thurman, Fairbairn, the clinical cases and African American cultural factors, I highlight the illusory or at best transient nature of independence and the process I demonstrate the need for an appreciation of the nature of dependency, particularly in the context of Interdependence. A three dimensional model of pastoral counseling is presented which elaborates upon the importance of (1) the client's historical situation and cultural values; (2) identification, a proper sense of self and differentiation; and, (3) shared suffering, actualization of potential and liberating and reconciling love.