The emphasis of this research was to evaluate the beliefs about respite among caregivers of the clients associated with Inland Caregiver Resource Center. The caregivers of the elderly and those who suffer from Alzheimer’s and dementia, or suffer from traumatic brain injury that was organic in nature were the population of interest. These caregivers were unpaid persons who help to keep those with such conditions at home as long as possible. This study used an exploratory pilot survey instrument to assess the perception of benefit of respite used as seen from the view of the caregiver. The primary theory used to support this project was Abraham H. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Data analysis used standard statistical methodology. The benefit to the profession of social work was seen in the addition of knowledge to the fast growing field of organizational respite services. The results of the research indicated that when respite was seen as beneficial the caregiver was more able to complete activities while using respite, the caregiver believed the person or agency who cared for their loved one was professional and trusting, and the care receiver was treaded well and was more easier to care for after being cared for by another person or agency.

In Hawaiian History: The Dispossession of Native Hawaiians’ Identity and Their Struggle for Sovereignty, three of the Western constructed narratives of Hawai’i are identified and juxtaposed with Hawai’i’s historical facts taken primarily from the late 1800s through the mid 1900s. These Western narratives contribute to an identity crisis experienced by Native Hawaiians during a time when their culture was almost lost, due to the colonial powers assimilating Hawai’i to America. An account of the historical events of the Kingdom of Hawai’i is then reviewed, which includes the diplomatic moves of the Hawaiian monarchs, the changes in the statuses of the Kingdom, and the overthrow of Queen Lili’uokalani. Evidence explored throughout “The Hawaiian Kingdom” section, proves the native Hawaiians adjusted swiftly to a diplomatic means of resolving issues, which refute a frequently taught Western constructed narrative that the “savage native Hawaiian political leaders” needed Americas aid in governance. The Hawaiian sovereignty movement’s history is reviewed, leading up to the creation of U.S. Public Law 103-150. This resolution was made in response to the demand from Hawaiian sovereignty movements for the United States to acknowledge its role in the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawai’i. The U.S. political agenda found in this resolution is so deeply embedded and disguised in the diplomatic language used, that without careful examination could go completely undetected by the reader. At the surface level, the Apology Resolution acknowledges the historical injustices faced by the native Hawaiians, apologizes for the events, and seeks reconciliation with the native Hawaiians. Concealed in the U.S. Public Law 103-150, is the manipulation of language as means to use the apology as a disclaimer, which allows the United States to continue to suppress the inherent sovereignty of the Kingdom of Hawai’i and nullifies any claims to rights, titles, and possessions against the United States.

This research was designed to identify primary contributing factors to homelessness as identified by homeless individuals in Riverside County. This research might assist future researchers as well as help to implement treatment services to decrease homelessness. Qualitative data was analyzed to determine contributing factors leading to homelessness as well as the impact of treatment on overcoming barriers essential to obtaining housing. Demographic data was also analyzed based on the sample of individuals interviewed. The results of this study showed that mental health and substance abuse are two main factors which deter stable placement and lead to prolonged homelessness. This study concludes with a discussion of findings and recommendations for further research.

This study explored the impact of low retention rates in nonprofit organizations and review factors that are associated with this low rate. Nonprofit organizations are a crucial and integral part of our community, there are many factors that are influential in the retention of employees which impact the service that is available to those in need. The need for this study emerged from the researcher’s desire to raise awareness of the factors that lead to low retention rates in social service non-profit organizations and its effects on service provision This study allowed for administration to implement strategies that address the factors that lead to high turnover. Prevention strategies that can be utilized to decrease the dissatisfaction of current employees and increase engagement. The field of social services has been chosen for study because its programs are intended to improve the basic social welfare status of individual lives such that society is reformed. The following subsections were discussed: Growth of nonprofit organizations, nonprofits and human need, nonprofit relationship with funders, challenges within Nonprofits, why employees depart from these organizations and, retention focus. The research method used for this study was quantitative data. Since the research method used for this study was the methodology of quantitative design, snowball sampling was utilized. The Quantitative design was chosen to collect data from a larger group of service providers who worked primarily in a not for profit setting through Likert Scale surveys. The design assisted in quantifying the answer from the surveys to allow comparison, recognition of discrepancies, and or correlations of the iv data. The data was collected from 33 participants through an online survey program, utilizing Survey Monkey and, results were entered in SPSS, to compare relationships. Independent variable were the factors that contribute to low retention rate, and the dependent variable was the retention rate. The population this study focused on was management, staff and, direct service employees who work in social service nonprofits or have worked in the past. This study shows statistics which include ethnicity, age of the participants, marital status, education, and employment status. Along with statistical information on each item presented in the distributed survey, it outlines the statistical analysis that was conducted which includes a correlation study on the relationship between compensation, job training, professional development, filled positions, funding, disruption in services, self-care, access to management, and staff appreciate, and staff’s desire to leave a non-profit organization. The data was analyzed and found that the biggest impact to employee retention is compensation and the stress caused by chronically vacant positions. The study reviews the conclusions relative to our research questions and hypothesis in addition to, theories guiding conceptualization. This study discusses the limitations of study design and, procedures, as well as recommendations for future social work practice and policy. The findings were significant because the study could narrow down two out of the five factors that demonstrated an actual impact on retention in non-profit social service organizations, which gives non-profit managements clear barriers that they can attempt to address.

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to explore and expose the needs of sexually exploited women and children. The participants were recruited from a few non-profit agencies in the Inland Empire area. This study found one of the most underlying challenge facing the participants when working with sexually exploited victims was the unavailability of resources, particularly, shortage of transitional housing for them. Another finding that featured prominently in the study was related to a need for continuous training and education for the service providers in order to stay current with trends. The study also identified the rapport building challenges faced by service providers and the risk of re-traumatization for these victims and proper types of treatment for these individuals. This study recommends that the policymakers work with other key stakeholders to provide resources to these service providers in addition to providing a favorable environment. The collaboration should also include the law enforcement agencies and the judicial officers to protect the victims from further suffering. Furthermore, the study suggests that attention should be placed on the development of awareness campaigns and stronger voices of support and advocacy for these victims.

Older adults make up a significant and increasing proportion of the U.S. population and are frequent users of healthcare services. Ageism in healthcare, driven by an incomplete and narrowly biomedical perspective on aging, has been linked to various problematic outcomes for older patients, including under- and over-treatment. The purpose of this study was to use the theory of relational ageism to explore the relationship between personal aging anxiety among healthcare professionals and their attitudes to older patients, considering the potentially moderating factors of job role and work setting. Using convenience sampling, clinical healthcare professionals working for a mid-sized, regional healthcare system in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States were invited to participate in an online survey, resulting in a sample of N = 145. Independent variables in this study included the sociodemographic variables of gender, age, race, ethnicity, level of education, formal geriatric or gerontological education, and years of expression, plus job role, work setting, and aging anxiety scores as measured by the Aging Anxiety Scale. The dependent variable was attitudes to older patients as measured by the Geriatric Attitudes Scale. Regression analysis findings suggest that while having formal geriatric or gerontological education was associated with more negative attitudes to older patients, other sociodemographic variables including gender, age, race, ethnicity, level of education, and years of experience were not predictive of attitudes to older patients. While physicians had more negative attitudes toward older patients than did nurses, therapists, and other types of clinicians, work setting was not predictive of attitudes toward older patients. Study findings also indicate that higher levels of personal aging anxiety of healthcare professionals were correlated with more negative attitudes to older patients. This study provides information that can inform diversity training for healthcare professionals in order to improve attitudes toward older patients and reduce age discrimination in healthcare. A key recommendation is the inclusion of an exploration of healthcare professionals’ internalized attitudes to aging in any diversity training in order to increase awareness that these internalized attitudes about aging may influence their attitudes to older patients.

There are two studies in this dissertation. Both are about a program called “PICK a Partner.” The first study looked at how the program went for 682 people from the community who were taught PICK. These people ranged in age from 18 to 25. Those in attendance were given questions at the beginning of the program about their thoughts, perceptions, and knowledge regarding dating relationships. They were given these same questions at the end of the program. The scores on the questions at the end of the program were compared with scores on the questions at the beginning of the program. Peoples’ scores increased from before to after on all four questionnaires. These scores were also compared with scores from a group of students aged 18 to 25 from a university. Those that attended the program had higher scores; the scores of those from the university who did not attend the program stayed about the same. The second study examined how teachers influence scores and how individual characteristics of participants influence change in scores. The second study showed that teacher characteristics do matter somewhat in helping participants increase in knowledge. In addition, how religious a person is and whether they are a man or woman also matter, but only a little, in helping participants increase in knowledge. Future studies on PICK and the strengths and weaknesses of these studies are discussed.

Interventions based on a token economy effectively reduce problematic behavior. Yet, treatment gains deteriorate once an intervention is discontinued. It is important to better understand the persistence of behavior maintained by token reinforcement in simple experimental procedures. A Pavlovian association with primary reinforcement is said to endow neutral stimuli (e.g., coins, poker chips, lights, signs, stickers, etc.) with their own function to strengthen behavior as conditioned reinforcers. Behavioral momentum theory suggests that resistance to change under conditions of disruption is the appropriate measure of response strength. However, some animal studies have suggested that conditioned reinforcement may not affect resistance to change of a response. Here, a novel token reinforcement procedure was developed to investigate the resistance to change of responding maintained by token reinforcement. Pigeons responded on a key to produce tokens displayed on a touchscreen monitor in two signaled token-production components. Tokens accumulated over the two production components prior to a common exchange component where pecks to the tokens on the touchscreen produced food reinforcement. Resistance to change of responding maintained by different rates of token reinforcement was assessed by disrupting baseline token-production responding with presession feeding. Token reinforcement rates had inconsistent effects on baseline token-production response rates. However, small effects of token reinforcement rate on resistance to change were found. Results provide weak support for a response-strengthening account of conditioned reinforcement and insightful directions for future studies of token reinforcement in related procedures.

Grief is a natural condition resulting from human loss. It is also a variable process through which aggrieved persons pass and by which a variety of personal and contextual factors can impact the both the breadth and depth. Concordantly, grief resulting from the loss of a spouse is one of the most difficult psychological and social issues through which someone can pass. Among the variety of factors associated with conjugal grief, loss that occurs outside the normative pattern of life events has received little attention. This study of 232 young widows between the ages of 18 and 55 was conducted to ascertain the factors that were associated with off-time conjugal grief. To do this, the present study utilized data from an online survey that was disseminated largely via social network sites and grief support groups across the United States. Framed in Erikson’s lifespan theory of psychosocial development and utilizing the dual process model of coping with bereavement, this study included an assessment of the impact of quality of life, coping orientation, adulthood psychosocial balance, and sociodemographic factors on grief in young widowhood. Using correlational and regression analyses, many of these variables were individually associated with young widows’ levels of grief. Through additional multiple regression analyses conducted in pursuit of a more parsimonious model, when accounting for the other variables several predictors were no longer found to provide unique contribution to participant grief. In the final model, when simultaneously adjusting for all study variables retained from earlier analyses, higher levels of loss-oriented coping were found to be associated with higher levels of grief. Additionally, higher levels of intimacy balance and participants’ longer length of relationship with their deceased spouse were both associated with lower levels of grief. These findings highlight similarities found in past research regarding conjugal loss, including loss at younger ages, grief work, and the buffering effect of intimacy balance on levels of grief. Contrary to past research on grief, the relative importance of factors such as identity balance, religiosity, and social support were limited in their net influence on grief in young widowhood. These findings can inform future research and intervention regarding the context and impact of conjugal loss that occurs at younger ages.

Volunteerism is an important component in the 4-H program. It was initially used as a method to help agents reach the many youth interested in participating in 4-H. Community service has since become a required component for every club project. Research shows that volunteering can impact youth in many different ways. Other research shows that 4-H youth are more likely to contribute or do some type of community service. The present study uses the Modified Extended Version of the Object Measure of Ego Identity Status (EOMEIS), the Cognitive Autonomy and Self-Evaluation (CASE) inventory, and an instrument specifically designed to study 4-H involvement and volunteerism to look at Utah 4-H. In order to more fully understand how volunteering in 4-H impacts youth, this study focused on adolescents (age 14-25) who have participated in the Utah 4-H program. The study had two main goals: (1) to discover the demographic characteristics of 4-H volunteers during middle and late adolescence, and (2) to focus on 4-H volunteering and its relationship to autonomy and identity achievement. This could be then be used to determine future programming changes to the Utah 4-H program. The results of this study indicated that 4-H adolescents were most likely to be from rural communities and 16 and 17 years old if still in high school or 23 to 25 years old if they had graduated from high school. Academic grades for high school participants did not seem to make a difference in if they volunteered or not. Those members who were involved for longer periods of time or those that considered 4-H a significant part of their life were more likely to continue to volunteer. Individuals who participated in events held on the national and county level were most likely to continue volunteering, but less likely to volunteer if they participated on the state level. Identity status and cognitive autonomy were not significantly related to volunteerism. However, trends did show that they could possibly be impacted in some way. A larger sample could play a role in determining if it were just a trend or if there was a significant relationship. It may also help to study 4-H participants versus non 4-H participants or 4-H volunteers versus non 4-H volunteers to determine if the 4-H program has an impact on identity status and cognitive autonomy.