Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 237-253). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

This study was designed to investigate the following problem: Among a selected group of secondary school students who are considered to be youth-in-trouble, what perceptual patterns exist concerning their personal relationships within the school and the home? The setting is in a rapidly growing community in the southwestern United States. A theoretical framework was selected which emphasized personal processes. It included the categories of: (1) contact, (2) consult, (3) share, (4) choose. A search of literature related to the categories of the framework was conducted. On the basis of the theoretical framework, a questionnaire was designed with statements consisting of 16 items reflecting the four categories of contact, consult, share, and choose and was administered to a sample of youth who were judged to be youth-in-trouble to probe certain relationships experienced by youth-in-trouble in the school and in the home. The data derived from the questionnaire were then organized under the four categories of the theoretical framework. According to "The Theory of Personal Processes" used in this investigation, contact must occur at the outset of any interaction and must persist throughout the relationship. At a very early point in the interaction, consultation becomes an extension of contact and thereby supplies the means by which the interests of the youths are discovered. These interests constitute the basic ingredient for the interaction. As the interactive process continues, sharing, a mutual exchange of ideas and interests, is the basis of cooperative effort. Throughout the interactive process, choosing should be at a maximum if there is to be a high degree of freedom and democratic living. The investigation revealed the followng patterns: (1) Contact: The youth-in-trouble reported little effective contact between themselves and their parents. The youth-in-trouble reported little effective contact between themselves and their teachers. (2) Consult: The youth-in-trouble reported little effective consultation between themselves and their parents. The youth-in-trouble reported little effective consultation between themselves and their teachers. (3) Share: The youth-in-trouble reported little effective sharing between themselves and their parents. The youth-in-trouble reported litttle effective sharing between themselves and their teachers. (4) Choose: The youth-in-trouble reported little effective choosing between themselves and their parents. The youth-in-trouble reported little effective choosing between themselves and their teachers. In light of the above findings, it can be concluded that the youth-in-trouble who were studied in this investigation generally seemed not to perceive themselves as operating in home and school environments of freedom and democratic living.

The purpose of this study was to determine if parental exposure to an Adlerian-based bibliotherapy program combined with systematic telephone consultation would change the rate of their child's non-productive behavior. The subjects in this study were eight volunteer parents from the Tucson metropolitan area with at least one child (the target child) between the ages of six and 11. The target child engaged in non-productive behavior that the subject wished to modify. The dependent variable was the rate of non-productive behavior engaged in by the target child. Non-productive behavior was defined as either class I type (home maintenance) or class II type (non-compliant). The independent variable was bibliotherapeutic material (Parent's Handbook, S.T.E.P. program, Dinkmeyer and McKay, 1976) and a systematic format for telephone consultation. The reading materials were separated into a series of units to be read at the rate of two units weekly. Telephone consultation took place on a prearranged schedule at the rate of twice a week. A single subject multiple baseline across subjects design with random staggered intervention was utilized. Total time across all experimental phases wa 64 days. Average treatment lasted approximately three weeks. Observational data were collected by the subjects, with reliability checks being made by another individual available within the natural environment. All data were collected from the natural environment. The correlational method of estimating reliability was used yielding figures ranging from a low of .74 to a high of 1.00. During the course of the research one subject withdrew and three other subjects showed no change during treatment. For those subjects showing no change at treatment, certain design factors were pointed out as possible explanation (low baseline rates, limited data points during treatment phase). Statistical analysis was performed on four subjects meeting the requirements for Revusky's R(n) procedure (1967). Results yielded R(n) = 5, p .05 (one tailed test). Possible response generality was assessed in prepost- fashion through administration of the Adlerian Parental Assessment of Child Behavior Scale. Analysis of results yielded t = 6.88, p .005 (one tailed test, df = 6). While conclusions are discussed within the limitations of the study, results allowed the acceptance of all three hypotheses. Hypothesis 1, indicated that the target child would decrease rate of non-productive behavior. Hypothesis 2 stated the target child would increase rate of productive behavior. Hypothesis 3 stated parents would perceive the target child's behavior as significantly more positive as measured by the Adlerian Parental Assessment of Child Behavior Scale. The adherence to a strict telephone consultation format is discussed. It is suggested strict adherence is unrealistic in actual counseling practice. Actual mean telephone contact between researcher and subject was 35 minutes per week. It is concluded that the proposed intervention strategy can be an effective and efficient treatment modality for selected clients.

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Some of our teachers are so imbued with the idea that violence solves problems for them at school that they don't realize that there is an effective alternative discipline that is humane and violence free. They are not alone in this trap. Parents and learners too also strongly believe that inflicting reasonable pain is morally an acceptable disciplinary measure, and a deterrent. This study seeks to understand the reasons that make teachers perpetuate the culture of corporal punishment today, despite the fact that the 1996 South African Schools Act abolished the practice in all public and private institutions by declaring that the use of any form of physical punishment is unlawful and unconstitutional. Anyone, therefore, who contravenes the act, is guilty of an offence. This legal concept seems to be confined within public and private institutions, and does not extend to the parents at home and to society at large, where the culture of physical punishment is still widely practiced. From the point of view of Systems Theory we regard a school as a social system. Regard for the perspectives of the people involved in this human system is important in identifying problem situations, exploring them, and developing a grounded theory to account for them. In this study I employ the Primary Research Paradigm and use surveys as a means of collecting the research data. Winberg (1997:30) says that Primary research occurs through direct interaction between the researcher and the researched. It is sensitive and sees with the eyes of the researched and walks in their shoes. I use triangulation, combining conversations, interviews, observations, questionnaires and documentary analysis to collect data on the feelings, attitudes and perceptions of teachers, learners and parents. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2008.

The research focused on an alternative partnership as an intervention strategy with regard to addressing problematic learner behaviour within the broader system and takes into account that there are practitioners who are experts with specialized knowledge and pooling of such resources would lessen the burden on those currently involved. The current position is that when a learner is considered to be presenting with challenging behaviour, the policies and referral procedures of the Department of Education deem it necessary that the learner is referred to the Department of Social Development, which is mandated to provide statutory services to children up to age 18years. The research strategy focused on the challenges in the current partnership between the respective departments through the collection of data from educators and social workers. A review of policies and procedures that address problematic behaviour among children under the age of 18 years was also undertaken with the objective of identifying gaps and challenges posed in their implementation when addressing learner behaviour. While the research focused on the partnership between the Department of Social Development and the Department of Education in the management of learner behaviour, an alternative partnership was implemented as part of an „action research‟ project and which includes other Departments, Non Governmental Organizations and Community Based Organizations thereby adopting a holistic approach in addressing problematic learner behaviour. Critical Systems Thinking and its metamethodology of Critical Systems Practice, utilizing Soft Systems Methodology as the dominant method of data collection, influence it. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with Educators from five schools and focus group discussions held with Social Services Practitioners to identify an effective partnership while engaging in continuous learning. An analysis of the responses revealed that the notion of a community of practice prevailing within the Department of Social Development can be extended to include other Social Workers who are experts in their respective fields of service, other professionals and Educators, all of whom have the common goal of uplifting humanity. The research, based on a core competence partnership approach, revealed that it is possible to implement the Integrated Service Delivery Model to the problem situation giving effect to its purposes, one of which is to develop and empower vulnerable groups in society, in this instance, learners at secondary schools as well as their parents thereby regenerating sound morals and values. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2009.

Beck's cognitive diathesis-stress theory has generated much research into the etiology of depression. Central to the theory are depressogenic schemata that interact with stressors, resulting in increases in depressive symptomatology. These schemata are commonly assessed using the Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale (DAS). Importantly, the DAS was not designed for use in children---it has been validated with adults and contains advanced language. Thus, the Child and Adolescent Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale (CADAS) was developed. / Study 1 sought to psychometrically validate the CADAS. 453 children completed the CADAS item pool and measures assessing divergent validity. The CADAS was readministered 3 weeks later. Items were retained based on item-total correlations, internal consistency, and factor analyses. The finalized CADAS is a 22-item self-report measure with a unidimensional factor structure and sound psychometric properties. / Study 2 tested Beck's theory using the CADAS to assess depressogenic schemata as a vulnerability factor for depression. An independent sample of 241 children completed the CADAS and a measure of depression one week before receiving school report cards (Time 1). The morning after receiving reports (Time 2), stress was assessed by obtaining parents' reactions to reports, and with an index of children's subjective acceptable grades compared to actual grades. Five days later (Time 3), depression was reassessed. / As hypothesized, regression analyses collapsing across age revealed that Time 1 CADAS interacted with Time 2 parental stress to predict changes in depression from Times 1 to 3. High-CADAS children showed greater increases in depression relative to low-CADAS children when facing the stress of parental anger and disappointment regarding their grades. Consistent with cognitive-developmental theory, planned supplemental analyses indicated that the CADAS x stress interaction predicted depressive changes only in older, formal-operational children. The relationship between the CADAS x stress interaction and depressive changes was mediated by negative views of the self, but not by views of the world or of the future. / This work yields a measure of depressogenic schemata in school-aged children that further contributes to understanding their etiology of depression. These schemata, together with negative views of oneself, may be important targets for modification in the cognitive therapy of childhood depression.

Although girls make up a small portion of students identified as having emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD), there has been a steady and significant increase in the number of violent incidences in schools involving girls. Yet few intervention programs are in place to address the unique needs of girls with EBD problems of an aggressive nature. This study examined the effectiveness of Time Away (TA), a conflict resolution program emphasizing social skill training currently being employed at the elementary school level in an Indiana school district. TA involves three phases (Albrecht, 1992): timeout—after several unsuccessful attempts by the teacher to resolve conflicts, the offending student is sent to the TA room and placed in a 10-min timeout ("cool down") period; redirection—the student then participates briefly in an academic ("getting back on track") activity; and conflict resolution—a subsequent debriefing period during which time the student is encouraged to examine the events leading to the problem behavior, the specific unacceptable actions that resulted in removal from the classroom, and the consequences along with possible alternative actions that could avoid such problems in the future.This study compared two school districts, one using TA and another using traditional disciplinary practices. TA referrals and disciplinary referrals were compared for both school districts and variables such as gender, socioeconomic status, and the number of referrals made were analyzed. In addition, teachers using TA were surveyed to determine their perceptions of the effectiveness of the TA program and their possible use of it in the future. Their responses to open-ended survey questions were examined qualitatively by grouping them according to themes that emerged from a content analysis. Results of the referral analysis gave support to its effectiveness for girls: In the school district where TA was implemented, girls received 30% fewer referrals than boys in that district and 28% fewer referrals than either boys or girls in the comparison school district that did not use TA. Possible reasons for these results along with recommendations for improving the TA program are discussed. / Department of Special Education