Drawing upon previous research about long-term care service utilization and social network analysis, a conceptual framework is developed and presented that identifies those social network factors appearing to have the greatest potential impact upon the differential utilization of long-term care services by older persons. Using this framework, and a research methodology that employed the techniques of social network analysis, an exploratory study was conducted which examined the social network factors associated with the differential utilization of formal long-term care services by older persons living in two counties of northwestern Florida. / Differences were found to exist between the study's two subject samples with regard to several of the social network factors that were examined. The nature of those differences suggest that the type of formal long-term care services used by the older persons in the study, may have, in part, been influenced by certain structural qualities of the social networks by those persons, by certain attitudes and values held by those persons with regard to their networks, and by the nature and quality of the relationships that existed between those persons and individual members of their networks. / The results of the exploratory study have important implications for formal providers of long-term care services and for persons who are involved with the development of long-term care social policy. In addition to those programs and policy implications, the study demonstrates that despite certain methodological weaknesses, the method of social network analysis developed for this study can be a valuable research tool for adding to present knowledge about long-term care service utilization. Such information can be critical for the future development of policy and programs concerned with meeting the long-term care needs of older persons. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-02, Section: A, page: 0548. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

This study was an initial effort to use social network concepts to compare the informal support systems of mothers identified as child abusers with those of non-abusing mothers. A social-psychological approach was taken to the measurement of social network strength. The strength of the mother's primary group network was defined in terms of the mothers' reported perceptions of the amount of role-supportive help available to her from neighbors, friends, and relatives. / The data were collected by means of structured interviews with two groups of mothers. A group of 38 mothers were interviewed who had been identified as physical child abusers by one of eight public protective services programs in North Florida and North Georgia. A control group of 59 mothers who had not been reported for child abuse were similarly identiviewed. / A structured, 51 item Index of Social Network Strength, was developed by the author and used as the interview guide. The instrument contained 28 Likert-type items which yielded a summated index of the mother's perceived strength of her combined neighbor-friend network and an index of the perceived strength of her kinship network. The total of the combined scores was the measure of the mother's perceived strength of her total primary group network. The data collection instrument also provided demographic characteristics of the mothers, a measure of their use of formally organized parent-support services, a marital satisfaction index, and an index of situational stress. / An inverse relationship was hypothesized to exist between mothers' perceived strength of their primary group networks and maternal child abuse. This inverse relationship between mothers' perceived strength of primary group network and maternal child abuse was hypothesized to be stronger for mothers in high stress situations than for mothers in low stress situations, and stronger for mothers who reported low use of formally organized parent-support services than for mothers who reported high use of the service. The fourth hypothesis postulated that the inverse relationship between mothers' perceived strength of their kinship network and maternal child abuse would be greater than the inverse relationship between the mothers' perceived strength of their neighbor-friend networks and maternal child abuse. / The data were analyzed by means of contingency tables and non-parametric statistics. Chi-square was used as a measure of statistical significance and Yule's Q was used as a measure of the strength of association between the variables. / The findings supported the major research hypothesis. Mothers who perceived their primary group networks as strong were significantly less likely to be child abusers than mothers who perceived their primary group networks as weak. This inverse relationship between the mothers' perceived strength of their primary group networks and child abuse was significantly stronger for mothers who did not utilize formally organized parent-support services than for mothers who did utilize them, and was stronger for lower-income mothers than for higher-income mothers. Level of situational stress did not significantly influence the inverse relationship between mothers' perceived strength of their networks and child abuse. The perceived strength of the mother's neighbor-friend networks was found to have a stronger, negative association with child abuse than did the perceived strength of their kinship networks. / The findings suggest that interventions to prevent maternal child abuse should be directed toward strengthening the social linkages between abusive or potentially abusive mothers and their neighbors and friends. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-02, Section: A, page: 0806. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1979.

This investigation examined persons 60 or over concerning their volunteer activity. Volunteering was defined as contributing one's time without pay to non-profit organizations in the community. A list of older volunteers was compiled and subjects were randomly selected from that list. A non-volunteer group was similarly formed to serve as a basis of comparison and accord a fuller understanding of the volunteers. / Volunteers were found to have more income, to be younger, more educated, more likely to be white and more likely to be married than their counterparts who do not volunteer. The volunteers had higher measures of self-esteem and peer relations than the non-volunteers. Subjects who volunteered prior to age 60 were more likely to be presently volunteering, but 19 percent of the present volunteers had never volunteered before the age of 60. The 75 volunteers interviewed were found to be more active in volunteering now than before the age of 60. This is probably due to an increase in leisure time as a result of retirement or other role loss. / Of the 56 non-volunteers, a startling 59 percent expressed a willingness to volunteer and a main reason given for not volunteering was simply that no one has asked them. Both volunteers and non-volunteers preferred volunteering in a setting that served members of their own age group. / Older persons have historically underutilized and/or have been underserved by the social service network in the community. Results of this and other investigations indicate that there is a significant group of older volunteers and potential volunteers waiting to be asked who can be used to bridge this service gap. In addition to providing a service, it was learned that volunteers may benefit themselves in terms of higher self-esteem and peer relations. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-02, Section: A, page: 0549. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

This study examined the relationship between the level of involvement in decision-making, as perceived by staff, and the performance of those staff members in a human service organization as well as the effect on that relationship of the extent to which staff want to be involved. / The data were gathered by means of a questionnaire administered to 235 direct service and unit supervisory staff within two geographical districts of the Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services. The data collection instrument included scales developed and used by other researchers to measure the variables of participation in decision-making, job discretion, and congruence. The instrument also included a seven-dimension scale developed by the author to measure a staff person's perception of quality of work being performed. Demographic data were also gathered from the respondents. / A positive relationship was hypothesized to exist between the level of a staff person's participation in organizational and job specific decision-making and the perceived quality of staff performance. It was also predicted, however, that not all staff wanted a great deal of involvement in such decision-making and that whether or not one was satisfied with one's level of involvement, regardless of what that level was, would affect the quality of staff performance. It was expected that the staff who either want more or less involvement than they have would perceive a lower quality of work being performed than would staff who are satisfied with their level of involvement. / The findings largely supported the hypotheses but only for direct service staff. The possession of job discretion appears to be more important to an assessment of high quality work performance than does participation in organizational decision-making. Additionally, the findings suggest that staff who are either satisfied with the level of job discretion or want less of it evaluate staff performance higher than staff who want more. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-02, Section: A, page: 0549. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

A retrospective survey of childhood sexual experiences were conducted in order to determine the long-range consequences for adult funtioning. The sample included 501 women, primarily middle-class. No clinical or offender populations were sampled. Half of the women were undergraduate (34 percent) and graduate (16 percent) students, the mean age was 28 years, 63 percent of the sample was white and 35 percent was black. / There were 55 percent of the sample who reported having sexual experiences before they were 15 years of age. The sexual behaviors reported most often were kissing and hugging in a sexual way and exhibition. There were 24 percent who reported sexual experiences with relatives. However, only 0.6 percent had "incestuous" experiences when Webster's Dictionary (1978) definition of incest is used. Findings challenge beliefs that blacks are more sexually active than whites, and that the prevalence of sexual experiences is increasing and beginning at an earlier age. Most women reported the experience as pleasant, and participation was 67 percent voluntary. Abusive experiences were reported by 10 percent of the sample, and harmful experiences by 16 percent. Experiences with older partners (at least five years) were reported by 13 percent of the sample. Also, 24 percent of the variance in voluntary participation, and 21 percent of the variance in abusive, harmful and forced experiences were explained by older partners. / Five standardized scales were used as dependent variables to measure the consequences of childhood sexual experiences for present adult functioning in the areas of self-esteem, depression, marital satisfaction, sexual satisfaction and family relations. In analyses of variance, the scores of women with childhood sexual experiences were not significantly different from those of women with no sexual experiences. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that sexual experiences that were abusive, forced, guilt-producing, harmful or pressured interacting with the type partner (parents, other relatives, or non-relatives) had more consequences for adult functioning than the type partner, conditions of and reactions to the experience had alone, and were statistically significant for all five measures of adult functioning. However, when the effects of background variables were held constant, the amounts of variance explained by any of the sets of variables were less than 12.5 percent. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-06, Section: A, page: 2104. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

The two purposes of this study were to provide descriptive data concerning the marital relationships of parents of children with congenital developmental disabilities, the family hardships they face, and the coping methods they use, and to examine the relationships between marital functioning, family hardships, and parental coping methods. Subjects were 32 married couples, each with a developmentally disabled child. Data were collected using a telephone interview, mailed questionnaire package, and personal interviews. Instruments included the Index of Marital Satisfaction, Marital Status Inventory, Problem Checklist, and the Coping Health Inventory for Parents. / Over 90% of the marriages had a high degree of stability. Approximately one-third of both husbands and wives reported serious marital dissatisfaction. At least one spouse in over 43% of the couples reported serious marital dissatisfaction. Therefore, most of the marriages were relatively stable and of adequate quality. However, a substantial proportion of the marriages were stable, but of low quality. / The most frequently mentioned marital strengths by spouses were (1) companionship, love, and friendship, and (2) commitment to marriage and family orientation. The most common areas of conflict reported were finances and childcare. Approximately one-third of both husbands and wives reported sexual dissatisfaction. Parents indicated that the two areas of marriage most affected by their child's disability were their social life together and the amount of time they were able to be together as a couple. The most common hardships reported by parents were (1) concern about the disabled child's future (2) finances and (3) time with spouse. / Multiple regression analysis revealed significant and substantial negative relationships between marital quality and stability and the number of family hardships reported by parents. No significant relationships were found between marital stability and quality and parental use of coping methods. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-07, Section: A, page: 2454. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

The purpose of the study was to identify reported critical factors that differentiated the runaway adolescent from the non-runaway and to determine if there were reported personal characteristics that differentiated those who had run away once or more than once from those who had never run away. Variables to be analyzed were categorized under the three major headings of Family, Personal, and School. / Data for the current study were collected as part of a larger study entitled "Profile of Today's Youth Project" (PTYP) conducted through the Department of Home Economics Education, The Florida State University. The sample for the current study was obtained from the larger PTYP student sample of 2626 adolescents and was restricted to those 1296 adolescents who had completed the following instruments: The Index of Family Relations Scale; The Child's Attitude Toward Mother Scale; The Child's Attitude Toward Father Scale; A behavior checklist; and a demographic questionnaire. / Results of the present study indicated: (1) more adolescents from reconstituted families are likely to be involved in runaway behavior than adolecents from natural, two-parent families. (2) Adolescents' attitudes toward mother, father, and family life appeared to be more negative for those who had run away at least once as compared to those who had never run away. (3) Adolecents who had run away once or more than once were involved in more school deviant activities such as truancy, skipping classes, and fighting with other students than those adolescents who had never run away. (4) Adolescents who had run away more than once were involved in more non-school deviant activites such as vandalism, use of alcohol or use of marijuana than those who had never run away. Although these findings cannot be used to identify causes of runaway behavior, they can be useful as indicators in identifying those adolescents who are potential runaways. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-09, Section: A, page: 2993. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.

An exploratory case study of one organization--Anti-Nuclear Alliance (ANA)--was carried out during the 3 1/2 year life span of the organization. The study was designed to identify and analyze the organizational concepts related to life span stages of development. The organization was conceptualized as having passed through three identifiable stages during its life span: Growth, Institutionalization, and Decline. The three organizational concepts found to be related to these life span stages were: (a) composition of the group of participants in regard to adherence to the alternative paradigm and levels of involvement with the organization, (b) the linkages formed by participants of ANA with other organizations, and (c) the form of decision-making adopted by the group during its business meetings. / Data were collected through participant observation of ANA's business meetings and through the study of meeting minutes kept by the organization. A data analysis process based on "grounded theory" as developed by Glaser and Strauss (1967) and Glaser (1978) was utilized to arrive at a conceptual scheme delineating the variations and interactions of the organizational concepts within each life span stage. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-10, Section: A, page: 3418. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

The meaning of their participation to citizen volunteers who were members of mental health district boards in Florida was examined. Focus of the inquiry was to assess whether these board members perceived themselves as autonomous in making decisions about three basic dimensions: setting up rules with respect to funding and to minimum standards of mental health services delivery; and with regard to creating or discontinuing mental health programs. / Data were gathered through: (1) self-administered mail questionnaires sent to all two hundred twenty-five members serving as members of the fifteen boards during the spring of 1978, (2) non-participant observation of all public meetings of one mental health district board for the period June 1977 - March 1978. Eleven meetings were attended. The semantic differential technique was utilized in construction of the questionnaire, for which a 50% return rate was achieved. The measure Gamana was utilized to study the association between perceived autonomy and the three basic dimensions. Principal-components analysis was utilized in evaluation of the semantic differential results. / Most often represented among board member respondents to the mail questionnaire were businessmen (33%) M.D.'s, clinical psychologists and R.N.'s (15%) clergymen (14%) and retired persons (13%). Each board member had been appointed by county commissioners of the counties they represented, and probably represented the traditional elite of their home counties. They did not see themselves as having autonomy with respect to making decisions about setting up rules with respect to funding and to minimum standards of mental health services delivery. Nor did they see themselves as autonomous with regard to creating new mental health programs and/or discontinuing existing mental health programs. Board members who had served one year or more, and those with previous voluntary membership, were less likely to perceive board members as influential in decision-making than were those who had served less than one year, or who had limited voluntary experiences. Mental health district board staff were seen as more influential in decision-making by those board members who were more experienced. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-07, Section: A, page: 2248. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1978.

This study explores the emerging social problem of child-snatching, a phenomenon about which a paucity of prior research exists. Three dimensions of the initial incident of child-snatching are investigated: (1) individual characteristics of parents and children; (2) family characteristics; and (3) circumstances of the child-snatching event. An 84 item questionnaire was developed to study these dimensions and other aspects of child-snatching. Respondents were selected from the mailing list of a national child advocacy organization, Children's Rights, Incorporated. Questionnaires were sent to 400 parents (members and non-members) who had been victims of at least one child-snatching. The one-shot mail out resulted in a return rate of 63.1 percent of usable questionnaires. / The findings suggested that child-snatching is much more varied than previously thought. Although the children tended to be young, their ages ranged from less than two weeks to 15 years. A major discovery was that one or more children who were part of the family were not abducted. Similarly, parents (victims and perpetrators) displayed a wide range of demographic and socio-economic characteristics. At the time of the abduction, parents were in nearly every conceivable marital status and living arrangement. Custody and visitation statuses also were found to vary broadly. Female and male perpetrators tended to exhibit different patterns of abductions depending upon marital and custody conditions. For example, females tended to snatch soon after divorce and permanent cutody decrees whereas males snatched either while informally separated and before permanent custody devisions or two or more years after permanent custody. Data suggest that some parent-victims perpetrated an abduction themselves before the first incident reported in the study. / Whereas children were usually abducted from the home of one of the parents, they were also snatched from other sites. Several perpetrator motives for the abduction were reported, although the modal one, as perceived by parent-victims, was revenge. Finally, major themes of the study are presented and social policy and research directions are discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-03, Section: A, page: 0864. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.