Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1986. / Vita. Bibliography: leaves [107]-120.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / In this study an attempt has been made to test hypotheses based on personality theory regarding the relationship between identification with a parent in the nuclear family and its effect on subsequent occupational choice. In addition, the relationship of recalled parent-child climate to identification and occupational choice was also investigated. Typically, in our culture, we find children identifying to a greater degree with the same-sex parent. In addition, we find certain occupations in our culture which are typed as being characteristically more masculine or feminine. Yet each contains members of both sexes, albeit in different proportions. It was, therefore, considered valuable to measure parental identification of both these sexes in the same occupational categories to determine the role parental identification, either same-sex or cross-sex, plays in the occupational choice process. Using the Allport-Vernon-Lindzey Study of Values, we compared the value systems of 96 carefully screened college students, both male and female, with those of both of their parents. The students were further divided equally into four sex-occupation categories according to college major: males in engineering (MM), females in engineering (FM), males in elementary education (MF), and females in elementary education (FF). The differences in value scores between subjects and each parent, the measure of derived identification, were statistically analyzed to test predictions derived from the first hypothesis. Hypothesis 1: Occupations are chosen which represent the sex-type of the parent with whom there is greater identification in the nuclear family. [TRUNCATED]

M.A. (Psychology) / Communication patterns were studied in four families, each possessing an identified schizophrenic member'. Traditional and current concepts about schizophrenia and various theories about communication were reviewed. Adistinction was made between healthy and pathological communication. The family as a communicational unit was discussed in the light of general systems theory. An extensive survey of family studies of schizophrenia was undertaken. From this review of research three general questions emerged on which the hypotheses of this study are founded. The questions are: (a) To what extent is pathological communication found in families with an identified schizophrenic member? (b) To what extent is the absence of healthy communication found in these families? (c) What indications can be found that the combination of different communication patterns is unique for each of these families? In this thesis healthy communication is defined as the presence of adequate levels of empathy, warmth and congruence among the family members. These levels were measured on three rating scales measuring empathy, warmth and congruence respectively. Pathological communication is delineated here as the effort to avoid the definition of relationships, coupled with enmeshment between family members and the unclear definition of power relations in the family. This communication was measured by a process analysis of the family's interaction. The results of the measurements of healthy and pathological communication were taken together to assess whether different combinations of communication patterns could be found when the families were compared with each other...

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

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The problem of this study is to investigate child rearing attitudes of stepparents and natural parents and differences in perceived parental behavior patterns within reconstituted and intact families.

Western society has advanced in the provision of services for disabled children, but their complete acceptance and integration within the community has yet to be achieved. The development of interdisciplinary team programs for diagnosis and treatment has nevertheless notably assisted this process. Social workers have an important contribution to make in this area, but there is still much to be done to standardize the information secured in their interviews with parents. An initial project in this direction was carried out in Vancouver last year in a speech and hearing clinic. The present project explores adaptations of this with the cerebral palsied child as representing one type of brain-injury. Two basic dimensions in the development of criteria and rating scales are: 1) the health and socio-emotional circumstances of the child; and 2) the family circumstances and home environment. The present study initially gives particular attention to the latter, and considers some of the relationships between this and assessments of the progress of the child in functional ability. Since only limited sampling is possible, measurement of the results is not taken very far. There is also evidence that this is primarily a middle income group. Case illustrations and some comparisons of criteria are used to supplement the conclusions. The qualitative characteristics of the criteria and their significance for diagnostic assessment is subjected to careful view. In the present context they are considered in terms of the interrelatedness of culture, values, role and stress. The brain-injured child may have a relatively mild or severe condition. While treatment may be complex, objectivity is essential in assessing habilitation potential. Differentials in family functioning as they pertain to parental relationships, emotional acceptance, understanding, and cooperation are highly relevant to effective remedial or educational procedures, or casework. Indeed, the assessment of environmental circumstances in terms of social functioning may further the eventual integration of the disabled child into the community. It is reasonable to anticipate results from continued research of the present kind. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

Of all the children who are placed for adoption the legitimate children who are voluntarily placed make up the smallest group. Since voluntary adoption placement of legitimate children differs from the normal cultural pattern cases of this nature present a challenge to the social agencies. The purpose of the present study is the examination of such a group of cases. All cases of this nature which have been known to the public and private child-caring social agencies and family social agencies in the Burnaby, New Westminster and Vancouver areas during the year 1951 were examined. The criteria of selection were: (a) the parents were married, (b) the husband was the natural father of the child in question. Only seventeen cases were known to the designated social agencies during the year 1951. A schedule was drawn up for the purpose of analyzing the case records. Besides information such as name, age, occupation of father, the schedule tried to distinguish four main "areas": (a) the attitude of the parents towards the child, (b) the parents' psycho-socio situations, (c) the parents' own childhood experiences, and (d) the parents' contacts with the social agency. The parents' religious affiliations were varied including the Protestant, Roman Catholic and Jewish faiths. In almost one-quarter of the cases the woman was pregnant at the time of marriage; also almost one-third of the total number of parents came from homes broken by death, desertion or divorce. In five of the cases the child in (question was the first child in the family; the remaining twelve families had, on the average, 2.8 children. In eleven of the cases the parents followed through their request for adoption and placed the child with another family; in the remaining six cases the parents decided against adoption placement and kept the child. The distribution of parental attitudes included rejection, indifference, ambivalence and only two cases of mature love. When the distribution of parental attitudes in the larger group of cases (where the child was placed for adoption) was compared with the distribution in the smaller group of cases (where the child was not placed for adoption) two main differences were revealed: (a) the manifestations of ambivalence expressed by the parents in the "retained" group were weighed in favour of the more positive aspects, and (b) the predominant parental attitude in the "placed" group was one of rejection followed by attitudes of "negative" ambivalence and indifference. No one causative factor leading the parents to consider adoption placement "was apparent, but rather a multiplicity of factors, including the following: refusal to assume further responsibilities; marital disharmony between the parents; inability to provide for the child financially; inadequacies of the parents to meet their responsibilities; doubts and anxieties about the family's future economic position; interference by in-laws. In the majority of the cases the children in question were not regarded by the parents as objects with individuality but appeared to be regarded as "problem objects." This may account for the fact that in none of the cases was there any change in parental attitudes because of the sex of the child. It is impossible to generalize from such a small selection of cases but if later studies bear out these findings then there is no need for delay in making plans for the expected child because the sex is unknown. Both groups of parents, those who placed their children, and those who decided against placement, are in need of help from the social agency in sorting out their confused feelings. The agency's main resource in working with this type of case lies in the professional worker-client relationship. However, in this type of case the social worker experiences special difficulty because of the dual responsibility of helping to work out a plan which appears to be in the best interest of the parents, and also one in the best interest of the baby. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

The present study was designed to explore 1) the personality and attitude structures of adolescents belonging to the hip or underground subculture; 2) the family constellations within which these structures evolve; and 3) the evidence for and against the existence of the “generation gap." Several correlated indices of “hipness" were utilized to select 49 hip and 44 nonhip male, adolescent subjects. More than 80 percent of the subjects' parents also participated in the study. An extensive battery of personality, attitude and demographic questionnaires was administered to all subjects. The data revealed large, significant differences between hip and nonhip adolescent subjects on 14 of the 18 major variables measured in the study. Relative to their nonhip counterparts, the hip subjects scored significantly higher on the following variables: Thinking Introversion; Theoretical Orientation; Estheticism; Cognitive Complexity; Autonomy; Liberal Religious Orientation; Impulse Expression; Altruism; Liberal Attitudes Toward Children's Freedom; Women's Freedom; and Sexual Freedom. The hip subjects scored significantly lower on: Personal Integration; Practical Outlook; and Masculinity. The hip personality profile revealed in the findings was compared and contrasted with the profiles of other alienated groups, namely, radical activists and the Beats of the late Fifties. Particular attention was paid to the historical changes which have transpired in the Bohemian personality during the past decade. While hip and nonhip sons differed significantly on 14 of the 18 major variables, their parent's personality profiles appeared remarkably similar. Hip and nonhip fathers differed significantly on only two of the 18 variables (hip fathers were more permissive in their attitudes towards children's freedom and toward sexual freedom). Hip and nonhip mothers differed significantly on just one variable (hip mothers held more permissive sexual views). Irrespective of significance levels, however, the group means indicated a strong trend for the small differences between hip and nonhip parents to mirror in direction the large differences between their respective sons. On 16 of the 18 variables, both hip parents scored in the same direction relative to their nonhip counterparts as did their sons relative to the nonhip sons. The hypothesis was discussed that both the smallness and consistency of these parental differences are instrumental in the development of hip or nonhip values among adolescents. While the differences between hip adolescents and their parents was found to be considerably greater than the differences between nonhip adolescents and their parents, the data indicated strong support for a generation gap hypothesis. On 9 of the 18 variables, nonhip sons differed significantly from both parents in the same direction that hip sons differed significantly from theirs. Relative to their fathers and mothers, both son groups displayed: more complex cognitive orientations; greater impulse expression; lower personal integration; higher anxiety; lower altruism: lower response bias; a more cynical attitude toward people in general; and more liberal views regarding children's freedom and sexual freedom. The generation gap, as characterized by the foregoing cluster of traits, was discussed from a psycho-historical perspective, and predictions were entertained regarding the probable future of generational relations. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate