Optimal learning environments designs that move beyond traditional pedagogical considerations to include Social Justice concepts can be a challenge for educators in academic and practice contexts. The workshop promotes learning environments designs reflective of inclusiveness and members’ psychosocial safety. Inclusiveness reflects sensitivity to learner diversity and promotive of psychosocial safety, a term coined by the workshop facilitator. Psychological safety is operationalized as the offering and receiving of respect despite and because of one’s differences, a knowing uniqueness will be honored as will beliefs and course content understanding. Psychosocial safety flourishes in strengths-based, trauma-informed atmospheres. Additionally addressed are barriers to designing optimal learning environments, including solution strategies. Experiential Learning Theory informs the workshop; experiential learning devices (e.g., reflexive activities, group discussions) encourage defining and refining workshop skills and strategies. The sensitive and culturally bound nature of social justice suggests use of scaffolding of strategies by educators to aid integration of learning.

This study was conducted to identify what principles leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were teaching women about their gender roles and expectations from 2000 through 2007, and to investigate whether age, marital status, or media exposure correlated with women's perceptions of levels of importance of those concepts to both their leaders and to themselves personally. This study used deductive and inductive framing analyses to examine visiting teaching messages and General Conference Relief Society talks published in the Ensign, the official magazine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The study built on those results to create a survey conducted with LDS women living in Cache Valley, Utah, in 2008. Survey results provided insight into levels of importance LDS women living in Cache Valley assigned to doctrinal and cultural concepts surrounding the "ideal Mormon woman." The doctrine reflected an overwhelming emphasis on both inner spiritual characteristics and religiously motivated actions. Lack of correlation between exposure to either visiting teaching messages or General Conference talks and what the women said Church leaders thought was important indicated some disconnect between what was being taught and what the LDS women reported. Although leaders' priorities were revealed by the frequency with which they taught individual components of the doctrine, the women did not recognize those priorities. Instead, they perceived that nearly everything was very important or important to their leaders. The women also indicated that although religiously motivated actions were very important, inner spiritual characteristics were even more important to them personally. Although the women reported inner spiritual characteristics as more important, they were also taking on responsibilities for those behaviors that may be more visible and easily compared to others. Exposure to General Conference talks correlated highly with how important survey items were to the women personally, which may indicate a channel of communication that is working for Church leaders. Statistically significant correlations in women's perceptions about what their leaders think and what they think personally were also found according to age and marital status, but there are not consistent trends that can be easily summarized.

The Monopoly Study of Authority was an institutional grant project designed to test the variables of authority and protection in a laboratory experiment conducted in the Small Groups Laboratory. Subjects (Ss) were recruited and paid a minimum wage to play Monopoly, while the Experimenter (E) manipulated the relevant variables, observed and video-taped the games. The hypothesis states that the greater the investment, the more likely will the individual make efforts to protect it. The dimensions of investment were ego involvement (desire to win, competitiveness), and resource commitment (Ss were offered rewards of double-time pay for winning the Monopoly game). Efforts to protect the investment were expected to take the form of personal authority, whereby Ss would overrule or otherwise ignore written rules/or rule changes instigated by E; or, delegated authority, whereby the Ss would accept E and/or the written rules as the legitimate authority over the game. Various and sundry administrative, technical and design problems resulted in the decision to prepare a research chronicle to provide a fuller accounting of investigative activity and to document the role of the circumstantial, the irrational, and nonrational, as well as the systematic logic and specific methodology of the research process. While the development of the research chronicle is well grounded in the work of William F. Whyte' s famous Appendix, the most useful rationale for this project was provided by Phillip E. Hammond's collection of chronicles, Sociologists at Work. This presentation is organized around the sequence of events in time and the sequence of ideas in the mind of E. The chronologic form is compatible with the underlying methodological approach of the project based on Barney G. Glaser and Anselm L. Strauss' work, The Discovery of Ground Theory, wherein theory is understood to emerge from data and the notion of theory as process is presented, the research process was loosely structured, each day's design emerging from the previous experimental session. This methodology allowed that questions peripheral to the initial hypothesis could be examined, and, in fact, a follow-up questionnaire study is presented in Appendix D. The discussion of the chronicle form and the methodology of grounded theory comprises Section One of this thesis. To conduct the actual experiments chronicled in Section Two, five, four person Monopoly sessions were scheduled. Ss were recruited on the basis of sex and affectual relationship. The Trial Session consisted of two males and two females instructed to play "ordinary Monopoly." The session was video-taped, and from the resultant tapes a demonstration tape was prepared documenting S sensitivity to the laboratory situation. In Session I the Ss were required to play Monopoly 'strictly according to the written rules,' attempting to create an external authority condition. In Session II E instituted "Barry's Rule," an arbitrary variant of the basic income rule in Monopoly. This design change was intended to enhance a condition of arbitrary, external authority in the form of E's created rule. In addition, the Ss were advised that the winner would be paid double-time. Session III repeated the double-time pay for winners condition, and Session IV was cancelled. All the sessions were videotaped, and all the tapes were reviewed. However, no adequate coding system was developed, and no quantitative data was produced. Impressionistic analysis, fortunately, afforded several useful interpretations which are cited in Section Three. Firstly, the double-time incentive did not create an investment condition, most likely because the reward (paid by check, several weeks later) was too abstract and too small ($12.00). "Barry's Rule" condition did elicit a strong negative response from the Ss, but also netted compliance. Section Four presents an "ideal" research design, thus rounding out the thesis from a chronicle of a research process, to an examination of the results, to the articulation of an approved design

The observation that more boys were born than girls was noted in the late 1660’s. Recent studies suggest the secondary sex ratio (SSR) is declining in industrialized countries. SSR is proposed as a sentinel for reproductive health. Declining SSR may reflect environmental factors or other influences of reproductive outcomes. We evaluated maternal age, birth order and SSR in the Old Order Amish (OOA), a homogenous sub-group with large family sizes. We used data from the Anabaptist Genealogy Database consisting of records for live births from 1696-2003. We used t-tests to compare mean maternal age and birth order by offspring sex, ANOVA to evaluate whether SSR has changed over time, and logistic regression for multivariable models. We evaluated clustering of SSR within families using random effects models and likelihood ratio tests of random effects. Maternal age was not associated with SSR (OR=1.003 [95% CI, 0.995-1.010), even after adjusting for birth order (AOR=1.000 [95% CI, 0.989-1.012). Similarly, we did not find an association between birth order and SSR in both unadjusted models (OR=1.007 [95% CI, 0.991-1.022), and those adjusted for maternal age (AOR= 1.006 [95% CI, 0.982-1.032]). The proportion of male births varied, however, there was no significant trend overtime. Lastly, we found a significant random effect (P<0.05), which may provide indication that having male births is heritable in families. Conclusions: Neither maternal age nor birth order is associated with the sex of an offspring. These findings suggest that decreases in SSR are unrelated to demographic factors, and rather may be related to other factors such as environmental exposures or other xenobiotic chemicals. These results may be relevant in providing information to the leading indicators to the decline in SSR.

This thesis attempts to record the progress of peace promoting projects by telling the story of the beginning, development, and operation of the Peace Movement, with special emphasis on the post war undertakings. It is written primarily for the junior high school student, with the hope that the information will provide a suitable basis for him to make his own deduction as to whether or not wars are necessary in settling international disputes. The method adopted is that of simple historical narration, beginning with ancient times and bringing it down to the present day. This broad approach is necessary so that the student may grasp the sweep and spirit of the movement.

The culture of honor theory proposed by Nisbett and Cohen (1996) addresses the historically higher rates of violent crime in the Southern United States, as well as the disparities that can be observed in the laws, beliefs, and social expectations between the South and other regions. Previous research has reported significant differences between the beliefs of acceptable violence among Southerners compared to non-Southerners; however, no research has been conducted comparing different demographic groups of Southerners. The current study sought to evaluate whether there were observable differences between various demographic attributes such as gender, race, age, educational attainment, political affiliation, prior law enforcement or military experience, and adherence to the culture of honor. It was found that there is a statistically significant relationship between experience in the military/law enforcement and culture of honor adherence, as well as statistical significance between an individual’s political affiliation and adherence to culture of honor beliefs.

Professional identity is an ongoing process that evolves throughout the undergraduate years of study, and which will hopefully facilitate graduate school and vocational choices that match the student’s skills and sense of vocational calling. Professional Identity (PI), one form of social identity, has been described as the “attitudes, values, knowledge, beliefs, and skills that are shared with others within a professional group” (Adams et al., 2006, p. 56). Understanding the options and opportunities the chosen major may facilitate, allows for a good match between student interests and abilities and the potential career of choice. Developing a strong sense of professionalism is a key component within this process. Fields practiced by many NCFR members, including counseling and gerontology, are studying PI because of its links to important educational processes and outcomes. From the beginning of a student’s college education, PI or professional/vocational identity has been shown to relate to important educational processes and outcomes, including completion of a bachelor’s degree. After graduation, PI has been associated with reduced burnout, increased team functioning, and greater retention in fields such as nursing and related helping professions. These links are supported by Social Identity Theory, which suggests that PI shapes the attitudes and behaviors that can differentiate an individual from members of other professional groups, allowing improved collaborations and occupational flexibility. PI is also increasingly important to the work of Family Life Educators (FLEs) and the profession, as the PI of FLE’s becomes more distinct. For NCFR and for educational programs, studying PI seems wise to help promote FLE’s professional status and to encourage family life educators to remain engaged in the profession. Conference attendance can be used as an instructional tool to guide students towards greater professional identity. The increased need for inter-professional collaboration in delivery of services (e.g., family sciences) and the corresponding rise in inter-professional education, demand clear professional identity as an important training metric and goal. These links are supported by Social Identity Theory, which suggests that attitudes and behaviors can differentiate members of specific professional groups, allowing improved collaborations and occupational flexibility. In 2011, following attendance at a regional professional conference, family science students responded to a retrospective pre-test / post-test survey adapted from the Professional Identity Scale. In a two more recent studies within our school (2016 and 2017), it was found that family science students as well as Education majors, benefited from attendance of a professional conference. The implications for the scholarship of teaching and learning in Family Science, as well as Education, could be widespread. The implications for the scholarship of teaching and learning in family science could be widespread. For example, our results indicate that educational programs in family life education could benefit from regular assessment of PI throughout the curriculum. If PI is improved by specific educational practices, such as experiential and service learning opportunities and field placements, it might be possible to focus on improved PI as a path to improve recruitment and retention of students, as well as wider benefits apparent in our field.

The following is a chronologically ordered internal intellectual history of Michel Foucault. The objective of this analysis is to determine whether or not Foucault provides a viable critical social theory of bourgeois society. In order to examine this topic, I trace the development of Foucault’s thought during his early, pre-archaeological stage, his archaeological stage, and his genealogical stage. I frame Foucault’s stages as attempts to overcome Kant’s subject/object division—or the paradox that man operates as both a meaning-giving subject and an empirical object—that one encounters in discourses pertaining to the social sciences. Foucault’s pre-archaeological stage is characterized by two humanistic modes of thought: hermeneutics and phenomenology. Hermeneutics involves the interpretation of historical events in pursuit of existential meaning. By contrast, phenomenology seeks to uncover meaning in subjective experience. After the publication of Mental Illness and Psychology, Foucault rejects hermeneutics and phenomenology on the grounds that the search for meaning through interpretation will inevitably obscure truth under endlessly multiplying interpretations. Neither method offers a coherent resolution to the subject/object division. Foucault’s archaeological method attempts to overcome the subject/object division by studying the relationships—or patterns appearing in language—between empirical observations. Archaeology does not account for the truth-value associated with codified empirical observations (or statements). In other words, archaeology studies the language patterns comprising claims to objective truth. Archaeology consequently assumes a relativistic and objective position that escapes the subject/object division. However, this method suffers from internal instabilities; the rules governing language pertaining to empirical observation are objective, yet the analysts are themselves a product of these rules. This contradiction casts doubt up archaeology’s claim to objectivity. Foucault’s genealogical method does not seek to resolve Kant’s subject/object division; rather, genealogy embraces the notion that the interaction between subject and object remains unknowable. Genealogy, therefore, retains archaeology’s relativistic stance regarding claims to truth while forgoing the former method’s pursuit of objective analysis. During his genealogical stage, Foucault directs his attention away from language patterns and toward the interaction between power and knowledge. Foucault conceptualizes power as a multidirectional, decentralized, and self-perpetuating force that manifests itself as the material result of interpersonal, institutional, and society-level conflicts. Knowledge complements power by defining normal and abnormal behavior. In doing so, knowledge establishes the cognitive field comprising the individual’s self-concept. Genealogy is an analytic of the power/knowledge interaction; the method provides a relativistic means of conceptualizing the reciprocal influence between force relations and discourses. While genealogy does not constitute an objective critical theory, the method has a concrete basis in the form of the positive manifestations of the power/knowledge interaction. Based on my assessment of the above methods, I conclude that genealogy is a viable social theory. Moreover, Foucault consistently deconstructs narratives comprising bourgeois society. From this recurrence it is apparent that Foucault is a para-Marxist; he provides a critique of bourgeois society and attempts to test the limits of individual experience within that society. This conclusion supports the continued relevance of Foucauldian analysis in the social sciences.

The growing childhood obesity epidemic and its association with adverse health outcomes have prompted increasing research in the recent past. Researchers have examined numerous aspects of the obesity epidemic. For example, the impact of parent behavior on child behavior has been considered. Likewise, researchers have examined the connection between parent perceptions of obesity and concern regarding a child’s weight status. Still other research has focused on the influence of a child’s behavior on weight status. Existing research has reported that within the African American community there is an apparent inaccuracy in perceptions regarding weight. Children who would be classified as overweight or obese according to body mass index (BMI) calculations are viewed by parents as having normal or healthy weight. Thus, among African-American parents, there is often no correlation between a child’s weight status and the parent’s perception of a weight concern. Moreover, it is not clear that there is a relation between parent concern regarding a child’s weight status and the amount of physical activity that the child engages in among African-American individuals. Further, it is not clear what relations may exist among parent physical activity level, child physical activity level, and the child’s BMI status. Finally, after conducting a semi-exhaustive study of the research, the links among child dietary habits, parent dietary habits, and the child’s BMI status in the African American population have not been addressed. The purpose of this study is to more closely examine the impact of risk factors such as parental physical activity, dietary habits, and parent concern and perception regarding weight on children’s weight status within an African American sample.

ABSTRACT Intimate partner violence is a widely recognized problem in today’s society and in the social work field. It is also often considered one of the most complicated issues to adequately address and prevent. There are many challenges in understanding how IPV can occur and worsen over time, as well as why some victims choose to stay with their abusers. Intervening in relationships and families that are experiencing IPV is not an easy task, especially if the social worker who is dealing with the issue is not knowledgeable or has pre-conceived biases about domestic violence. In this study, the terms Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and Domestic Violence (DV) were used interchangeably as both terms describe some type of abusive behavior by one individual towards another in a relationship. This quantitative study assessed the perceptions of social work students in the CSUSB MSW program towards victims of IPV who stay with their abusers. Participants completed an online survey that was created by the researcher using Qualtrics software. The study hypothesized that students’ perceptions about IPV victims varied depending on their personal and professional experience with IPV. This hypothesis was not supported by the data. Furthermore, the study hypothesized that students’ perceptions of IPV victims varied by the students’ education levels. This hypothesis was not supported by the data. The study is limited by a small sample of participants from one particular MSW program; these findings cannot be generalized to all social work students or to social workers in general. These findings and their implications for social work practice and curriculum are discussed.