Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Family Sciences. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 54-62).

The purpose of the study was to gain an increased understanding of what the L.D.S. person feels during the process of divorce and postdivorce readjustment by (1) developing an interview guide to obtain the necessary data on divorce, (2) determining how strong the feelings of failure, guilt, and trauma were at different phases of the divorce process, (3) determining how the feelings of failure, guilt, and trauma were related to membership in the L.D.S. Church, its teachings, and contacts with Church authorities, and (4) gaining insights which might provide a basis for later investigation.

Although there have been several significant studies during recent years concerning methods of child-rearing, little has been done to ascertain what influence an ideology may have on child-rearing patterns, or whether there are unique patterns of child-rearing within a specific subculture.Specifically, the purpose of this research is to answer the following questions: (1) What influence, if any, does the L.D.S. religious ideology have on child-rearing behavior, and (2) what are some of the patterns of child-rearing in the L.D.S. subculture.

This study focused upon differences between L.D.S. temple and L.D.S. non-temple marriages (which was used as a measure of religious commitment) with respect to divorce rate, and the relationship of occupational level and bride's age at marriage to divorce rate.A total of 419 couples were involved in the study. They were all married in 1955, had been born in Utah, and were residing in Utah at the time of marriage. Temple and non-temple marriages were equated for occupational level at the time of marriage. By 1968, the L.D.S. temple married couples tended to be higher in occupational level.Significant differences were found between couples with temple marriages and those with non-temple marriages: the divorce rate was lower and the negative relationship between occupational level and bride's age at marriage and divorce rate was far less pronounced for the temple marriages. The occupational level that was found to be most useful was the 1968 level.Couples of their parents were contacted by telephone to obtain data used in this thesis.

Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Sociology. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 90-93).

A fundamental purpose of this study was to provide marriage preparation providers with counselors perceptions of potential marital problem areas. A structured questionnaire was sent to LDS counselors, defined as members of the Association of Mormon Counselors and Psychotherapists (AMCAP). These LDS counselors rated 29 problem areas that LDS couples, (members members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), might encounter in a first marriage or remarriage. Results (N=231) were analyzed in an attempt to determine the most frequent, most damaging and most difficult problems to deal with in LDS first marriages and remarriages.Findings suggest that "communication", "sex", "unrealistic expectations of marriage or spouse", "money management" and "power struggles" were all identified as most frequent and most damaging problems/complaints first time LDS marriages might encounter. Problems with "previous marriage", "serious individual problems", "children", "power struggles", "unrealistic expectations of marriage or spouse", "communication" and "money management/finances" were identified as most frequent and damaging to LDS remarital couples.For both LDS first marriages and remarriages, problems with "power struggles" were identified as frequent and damaging, however, this topic is not commonly addressed in marriage preparation programs. These findings suggest that issues of power should be included as an area of focus in marriage preparation programs.

Raising a family as a single parent is difficult at best. As an LDS single parent, these difficulties take on a unique challenge. The purpose of this project is to offer specific, LDS related guidelines to assist the LDS single parent mother in strengthening her family and thus acquiring the skills needed in handling the unique challenge of raising a family in a gospel oriented society. A variety of resources were used to include theorists, practicioners, scriptures, and personal experiences. Examples and case studies demonstrate the integration of gospel principles and family practices as they relate to LDS single parent families.

This thesis examined the differences between 30 clinical and 30 non-clinical Mormon married couples on the perceived and ideal cohesion scores on the FACES III family typology instrument. Two three-way analyses of variance were done to examine these differences. the results provided evidence that there were significant differences between cohesion scores in clinical and non-clinical couples Both the clinical and non-clinical ideal scores fell close to the enmeshed end of the cohesion dimension of the Circumplex Model. The mean perceived cohesion scores, however, showed a difference between the clinical and non-clinical couples. The clinical couple mean scores fell in the disengaged category while the non-clinical couple cohesion mean scores were in the connected category, close to the enmeshed category cut-off score.

It was hypothesized by Olson and his colleagues (Olson, et al., 1983) that "Mormons" were more likely to be enmeshed than many other cultural/religious groups. The purpose of this study was to determine if individuals affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) scored significantly more often in the enmeshed category of the cohesion dimension of the Circumplex Model, using FACES III data, than the norming sample for the FACES III instrument. The study also examined the level of satisfaction that the Mormon sample expressed for their level of cohesion. Data from 61 L.D.S. married couples living in the three major urban counties of Utah were compared to the FACES III norming sample using chi-square and t-test procedures. The L.D.S. sample scored significantly more often in the enmeshed category than the norming sample, both for individual and couple mean scores. Those L.D.S. couples in the enmeshed category were significantly more satisfied with their level of cohesion than those in the lower categories of cohesion.

There have been several significant studies during recent years concerning the relationship between parental socioeconomic background and achievement. This research examines religious influence, parental control, family size, support, and educational encouragement which in turn influence educational and occupational attainment.Data were obtained from questionnaires completed by 843 married Mormon men from Canada.Only respondent's religious activity, parental support, and educational encouragement were significant in determining the occupational and educational attainment of the respondent. Family size and parental control were not significant.