Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum & Instruction Programs / Kay Ann Taylor / African American males have the second highest dropout rate in this Midwest state‘s largest public school district. Often, African American male students take an abundance of elective classes but do not complete core classes that guarantee a diploma. This study documented and analyzed the experiences of African American male students who completed or attempted to complete their high school diplomas in an alternative setting. The study is significant because it reveals the importance of how time is structured in an alternative educational setting; it discloses the pervasiveness of racism in public education, and it exposes the widespread stereotyping of African American males by teachers and other authority figures. African American male students who have attended both traditional and alternative public schools have been overlooked in previous research. Self-ethnography comprised the methodology. The intersectionality of gender, race, grades, racism, athletic involvement, law, and relationships formed a crucial paradigm of this investigation. Research findings include: (a) the major difference between traditional public and alternative schools is how time is structured, (b) African American males believe that they often are stereotyped, (c) high school athletes receive special privileges that they see later as obstacles, (d) African American males sometimes deliberately assume a pleasing demeanor toward teachers, (e) African American male students respond positively to teachers who conduct themselves with clear purpose, (f) African American males returning to school for high school credit recovery demonstrate tenacity and resist stereotypes. The cornerstone tenets of CRT—racism is the norm, interest convergence, and the need for social justice for oppressed groups—were evident in the findings of the frequency of stereotyping and treatment of African American male high school athletes. In the interest of social justice for African American male students, it is recommended that teachers are provided with the following information: (a) how to avoid consciously stereotyping; (b) that African American males make conscious efforts to be approachable; (c) how to make necessary changes involving their authority. Recommended future research for African American males includes: (a) how the construction of time in traditional public schools affects their credit acquisition; (b) communication between the counseling and athletic departments; (c) the impact of athletic involvement on academics.

Differences between female and male same-sex friendships have been the subject of numerous studies. Additionally, male same-sex friendships have been studied independent of the differences related to female same-sex friendships. Despite these studies, a comprehensive, agreed on definition of male friendship remains unclear or ill-defined. The manner in which men perceive, express and experience same-sex friendships can be viewed as learned behaviors based on gender schema and sex typing. Men’s friendships, as viewed through the gender schema theory, are shaped through the association of gender based male identity and male behaviors. This phenomenological study investigated male perceptions of same-sex male friendships. The broad research question for my study was how do men experience friendship? Through interviews with eight men, data were collected, analyzed by each case that produced a total of 52 themes for all participants, and then a cross-case analysis produced nine super-ordinate themes. The resultant super-ordinate themes were the basis for responding to the main research question and five specific research questions. Findings from my study allowed for the identification of specific components important to the participants regarding their friendships. A second finding was related to social expectations of participants’ friendships. Implications of my study revealed that although men are generally assumed resistant to counseling, they look upon counseling favorably. For counselors and counselor educators, a better understanding of the way men experience friendship could ultimately be a resource for better practice in the way men are attracted to and perceive the counseling practice.

No description available.

Stuttering is a developmental disorder which may adversely affect the individual on many functional and emotional levels. Common sequelae of speech disfluency include powerful emotions such as anxiety, shame, and anger, as well as speech-avoidant behaviors. For males, the influence of gender role socialization may present an additional burden. From a traditional perspective of masculinity, emotional expression and exposing one's flaws are strongly discouraged in most forms and contexts and may be seen as signs of weakness. While expression of emotions is a common developmental milestone for many who stutter, it is unclear what impact awareness, repression, and avoidance of emotions have on the well-being of people who stutter. This study explored the effects of disruptions in emotional expression and the influence of masculinity on the impact of disfluency for adult males who stutter (n=65). It was hypothesized that masculine-type emotional restriction would mediate the relationship between disruptions in emotional expression and the perceived impact of stuttering. Regression analysis revealed disruptions in emotional expression accounted for 25% of the variance in self-reported perceptions of stuttering, and self-regulation of emotion was negatively correlated with perceived impact of stuttering. Contrary to hypothesis, masculine-type emotional restriction was not significantly correlated with perceived impact of stuttering and thus invalidated impetus for mediation analysis. Implications and suggestions for further exploration are discussed.

Abstract available in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.

Fourth grade African American male students have the lowest rate of reading proficiency in the nation and are more likely to require remedial reading programs. Prior research suggested reading interventions that considered student ability, instructional practices, and curriculum rigor improved reading ability. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the influence of a remedial reading program, READ180, on 4th grade African American male students' reading comprehension as measured by 2 different standardized reading tests, TerraNova (TN) and Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI) that are administered annually to all students. The theoretical framework was Vygotsky's theory of cognitive development. Research questions examined the differences in TN scores between students who received READ180 instruction compared to students who received traditional instruction as well as the effect on SRI scores of 7 students before and after participating in READ180. For data analysis, archival data were available for 2 years of SRI scores, but only a year of TN scores. An independent t-test for the TN scores between TN scores of READ180 students (n = 7) and traditionally instructed students (n = 19) showed no statistical difference (p = .092). A paired t-test indicated a significant (p < .009) increase in SRI posttest scores of READ180 students. The small number of subjects were under-powered and a result of available archival data, but the data met test assumptions. Implications for social change are that academically disenfranchised students may achieve reading proficiency when reading programs provide direct instruction that target, monitor, and intentionally support individualized learning needs.

There can be many influences affecting girls in secondary high schools which in turn produce many different outcomes on their progression through high school. The influences causing these effects are varied and in many instances interrelated, including those of peer pressure, self-perception and teacher influences. One possible outcome is that of the number of females selecting science at the senior secondary level being disproportionately low when compared to males. This thesis investigates one proposed method of increasing, the currently low, numbers of females selecting the physical sciences in Year 11 and Year 12 by examining attitudes and achievements of females when placed in a single sex class in a coeducational school. The results were unexpected when examined in light of the literature reviewed. Previous research predicted that females would benefit in attitude and achievement if removed from the mainstream coeducational classroom. The results of this study did not reflect this prediction. / Maser of Education

‘Psychosocial problems’ are psychological problems that are regarded as resulting from the interaction between the adaptive capacities of individuals and the demands of their physical and social environments. Many different factors have been theoretically proposed, and empirically established, as predictors of a range of psychosocial problems in adolescents. However, a problem exists in that this literature appears to lack an integrative framework that has validity across the range of problems that are observed. The purpose of the current research is to propose and test a model that draws together three clusters of factors that are useful in predicting the incidence of adolescent psychosocial problems. These are family structural background factors, family functioning variables and control beliefs. Data were collected from 155 adolescent males aged between 12 and 19 by a single concurrent and retrospective self-report questionnaire. This included data about the respondent (age, involvements with mental health or juvenile justice agencies) and family structural background factors (days per week worked by mother/father, occupational status for mother/father, residential mobility, number of persons in the family home). The questionnaire also incorporated the Parental Bonding Instrument (Parker, Tupling & Brown, 1979) to quantify the levels of perceived parental care and overprotection, and an adaptation of the Parental Discipline Style Scale (Shaw & Scott, 1991), to assess punitive, love withdrawing and inductive discipline practices. In addition, the (Low) Self-control Scale (Grasmick, Tittle, Bursick & Arneklev, 1993) and the Locus of Control of Behaviour Scale (Craig, Franklin, & Andrews, 1984) were used to collect data concerning adolescents’ perceived behavioural self-control and locus of control. Finally, selected sub-scales of the Child Behavior Checklist Youth Self-Report (Achenbach, 1991b) were used to collect data on the incidence of social withdrawal, somatisation, anxiety and depression, aggression and delinquency among the respondents, and in aggregated form, the incidence of ‘total problems’ and internalising and externalising behaviours. Results indicated family structural background factors, family functioning variables and control beliefs possess limited predicted validity and that the usefulness of the proposed model varies between specific psychosocial problems. Family functioning variables were generally stronger predictors than family structural background factors, particularly for internalising behaviours. Of these, levels of parental care and overprotection were generally the strongest predictors. Perceived self-control and locus of control were also generally strong predictors, but were particularly powerful with respect to externalising behaviours. The strength of predictive relationships was observed to vary between specific internalising and externalising behaviours, suggesting that individual difference variables not assessed in the current research were differentially influential. Finally, the parental and individual characteristics that predicted maximal levels of adjustment (defined in terms of minimal levels of internalising and externalising behaviours) were explored and the correlates of various parenting style typologies (Parker et al., 1979) were investigated. These results strongly confirmed the importance of family functioning and control beliefs with respect to the prediction of internalising, externalising and well-adjusted behaviours. In all analyses, substantial proportions of the variance in the incidence of problem behaviours remain unexplained. The findings are examined in relation to previous research focused on (familial) social control and (individual) self-control with respect to psychosocial problems in adolescents. In addition, methodological considerations are discussed and the implications of the findings for clinical and community interventions to address problem behaviours, and for further study, are explored.

This paper seeks to explore the development of attachments in humans as seen through Bowlby's (1980) attachment theory. Components of the theory which focus on how attachments are formed and how they influence future behavior are explored. These are used to then examine how attachment theory applies to the attachment patterns seen in homosexual males.

The ongoing research concerning African American males enrolled in teacher education programs is essential for a number of reasons. Research specifically addressing preservice teaching, teacher education, and the African American male student is needed to promote the well-being of any school of education. According to McCray, Sindelar, Kilgore, and Neal (2002), colleges of education have addressed the issue of underrepresentation and under population of African American teachers through policy reform and financial support. The narratives of African American male preservice teachers and their perspectives on teacher education may provide a context for other researchers seeking to understand how and why African American males move into the field of education. More importantly, one particular way to enhance and advance the cause of the African American male preservice teacher is to accept a “culturally sensitive practice” (Tillman, 2002, p. 3) and insure epistemological and research practices unfamiliar to many teachers of preservice teachers are approved and embraced. This study is situated in a cultural, racial, and gendered point of view seeking to highlight the individual and shared experiences of three African American male preservice teachers enrolled in a graduate teacher education program. Stabilized through the lens of critical race theory (CRT), the gathering of counter-narratives provided the context to allow the research participants a vehicle to name their own reality.