Thesis (M.A.)--Western Conservative Baptist Seminary, 1986. / Abstract. Bibliography: leaves 132-133.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Logos Evangelical Seminary, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 213-225).

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

We briefly discuss the algorithm given in [Bates, Bundy, Perkins, Rowley, J. Algebra, 316(2):849-868, 2007] for determining the distance between two vertices in a commuting involution graph of a symmetric group.We develop the algorithm in [Bates, Rowley, Arch. Math. (Basel), 85(6):485-489, 2005] for computing a subgroup of the normalizer of a 2-subgroup X in a finite group G, examining in particular the issue of when to terminate the randomized procedure. The resultant algorithm is capable of handling subgroups X of order up to 512 and is suitable, for example, for matrix groups of large degree (an example calculation is given using 112x112 matrices over GF(2)).We also determine the suborbits of conjugacy classes of involutions in several of the sporadic simple groups?namely Janko's group J4, the Fischer sporadic groups, and the Thompson and Harada-Norton groups. We use our results to determine the structure of some graphs related to this data.We include implementations of the algorithms discussed in the computer algebra package MAGMA, as well as representative elements for the involution suborbits.

Psychological safety is a concept mentioned throughout the literature as a necessary component in the process of change in group counseling. Despite its frequent mention, no study has examined the characteristics of psychological safety. The purpose of this study was to lay the groundwork for a definition of the concept of psychological safety using self reports of group leaders and group members on a constructed Likert format psychological safety questionnaire of three attributional categories: self, other members, and leader. The study utilized group members (n = 44) and group leaders (n = 4) participating in laboratory groups as a part of a counseling related masters curriculum. The questionnaires were filled out on the first, eighth (middle), and fourteenth (last) sessions. Hierarchies for characteristics and attribution were constructed by using a summing procedure of the Likert responses. Results on the attribution of psychological safety by group members showed a consistent pattern over the three time measures. Group members reported leaders as the most attributed to facilitating psychological safety, other members as second, and self as least attributed to facilitate psychological safety. Group leaders showed no apparent agreement between groups, but each group leader attributed psychological safety consistently over time within one's own group. Results on the characteristics of psychological safety yielded a comprehensive list of characteristics, arranged in hierarchical format, as reported by both group members and leaders. Results indicated that psychological safety has some core concepts in each of the attributional categories. For group members, the characteristics of "warmth and support" and "active listening" were stable across every attributional category and time measure. For group leaders, "self disclosing feelings", "warmth and support", and "responding in an emotional, feeling manner" were reported in every time measure and attributional category. Characteristics that had a negative effect on psychological safety and recommendations for future research were also discussed.

This project is a study of how various Protestant Christian subcultures construct their identity and perceptions of LGBT couples in the 21st century United States sociopolitical context. Through an extensive content analysis of 105 sermon transcripts from www.sermoncentral.com, this project allows for a more accurate interpretation of Protestant Christian subgroups’ (via individual perceptions of pastors through their sermon rhetoric) stances on the issues of gay rights in the modern United States. Additionally, I use 2012 GSS survey data as background findings to frame and illustrate the relevance of the results from the content analysis. The content analysis findings show that various pastors from the sample construct their views of gay men and lesbians by 1) alienating LGBT couples, 2) enhancing in-group Protestant identities, and 3) calling for political action to maintain group norms.

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In this paper the following conjecture is studied: the group von Neumann algebra N(G) is a flat CG-module if and only if the group G is locally virtually cyclic. This paper proves that if G is locally virtually cyclic, then N(G) is flat as a CG-module. The converse is proved for the class of all elementary amenable groups without infinite locally finite subgroups. Foundational cases for which the conjecture is shown to be true are the groups G=Z, G=ZxZ, G=Z*Z, Baumslag-Solitar groups, and some infinitely-presented variations of Baumslag-Solitar groups. Modules other than N(G), such as L^p-spaces and group C*-algebras, are considered as well. The primary tool that is used to achieve many of these results is group homology. / Ph. D.

Let p and q be distinct primes, and G an elementary amenable group that is a residually finite p-group and a residually finite q-group. We conjecture that such groups G are left orderable. In this paper we show some results which came as attempts to prove this conjecture. In particular we give a condition under which split extensions of residually finite p-groups are again residually finite p-groups. We also give an example which shows that even for elementary amenable groups, it is not sufficient for biorderablity that the group be a residually finite p-group and a residually finite q-group. / Master of Science

The mid-1900's saw a shift in thinking within the social sciences away from the then dominant Newtonian worldview of linear causality, towards thinking in terms of circular causality. With the development of the new systemic epistemology, and the subsequent shift towards second-order cybernetics and evolutionary theory, new concepts were created to elucidate the processes whereby man constructs reality. This study considers the relevance of second-order cybernetics and the evolutionary theory as descriptive metaphors for both the pragmatics and aesthetics of group psychotherapy. A recursive relationship between theory, description and intervention is conceptualized, and it is concluded that the theoretical constructs in question serve as complementary sides of a systemic coin in the description of group therapy processes and the application thereof to the group therapy context. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)