abstract: The transition experience for students who are transferring from community college to university can be an overwhelming experience for any typical student, but can be even greater for students with vulnerable backgrounds. This phenomenological action research study followed the five-month community college to the university transition experience of five students in a scholarship program. The students participated in a three-part intervention in support of their transition experience. Three theoretical perspectives framed the study: community cultural wealth, transition theory, and transfer student capital. This framework enabled me to first identify the strengths the students possessed, despite their vulnerable backgrounds, through participation in individual interviews. The students then participated in pre- and post-focus groups and completed pre- and post-questionnaires. Through these, they identified which transition coping skills were their strongest and which transfer capital they possessed from their community college experience. They also shared how they applied those prior learned skills and capital at the university. This study revealed how these students utilized their strengths at moments when they lacked certain coping skills and transfer capital during their transition experience. One particular strength was how the students accessed the resources of the scholarship program at the center of this study to help them with their sense of the ability to succeed at the university. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Leadership and Innovation 2019

In this study, the use of human character strengths was evaluated as a component of mental and physical health. The majority of previous character strengths research has been limited to monotonic use of character strengths. This study evaluated subjective outcomes based on a new measure of how much adults reported underusing, optimally using, and overusing their character strengths. This exploratory study was theoretically grounded in the upward spiral model of lifestyle change. The underuse, optimal use, and overuse of character strengths were evaluated as predictors of physical and mental health status, health behaviors, and emotions. Using a convenience sample of 100 participants and a correlational design with regression analyses, as well as mediation with bootstrapping methods, the study determined that the optimal use of character strengths was predictive of better physical health, better mental health, more frequent health behaviors, and more frequent positive emotions. The underuse of character strengths was predictive of worse physical health, worse mental health, less frequent health behaviors, and more frequent negative emotions. Additionally, the overuse of character strengths was predictive of worse physical health, less frequent health behaviors, and more frequent negative emotions. Overuse of character strengths was not found to be predictive of worse mental health. Positive emotions mediated 53% of the relationship between optimal use of character strengths and health behaviors. Motivating individuals to engage in healthier lifestyles, although critical, can be challenging at times. This study is socially significant because it may offer increased knowledge on promoting positive emotions, the upward spiral of healthy behavioral choices, and better physical and mental health.

The present study focused on the social workers perspectives regarding the integration of religion and spirituality in therapy. Understanding these components will expand the knowledge of social workers and it will enhance the therapeutic relationship among clients and clinicians. It also allows social workers to provide a comprehensive service to a multicultural and diverse population. In order to provide a holistic approach, social workers need to address the issues of clients through a biopsychosocial perspective that includes religion and spirituality. For the most part, religious and spiritual people use these components in their daily lives to cope with unanswerable questions of life. Then, social workers may utilize these concepts as coping mechanisms when treating clients. Eight participants provided their professional experiences regarding the integration of religion and spirituality in therapy and its effectiveness. Participants for this study average 17.6 years of experience. Participants have extensive experience in providing individual counseling and group therapy. Participants are from various educational background, ethnicity, age and gender.

Thesis (Ph.D. (Psychology)) -- University of Limpopo, 2012 / The identity status paradigm (ISP) is probably the most common theoretical model used to study identity development. It originates from Erikson’s (1950/1977) psychosocial theory, which, in turn, is historically rooted in the psychoanalytic perspective. The ISP postulates predictable relationships between each of the identity status categories and various intrapersonal and contextual variables. The applicability of the ISP in the South African context is tested in this study. A student sample was drawn from a predominantly African university, and was assessed for identity development over a period of three consecutive years (Ns = 394, 96 & 60, for years one, two and three, in that order). Participants were initially classified into the four identity status categories of Achievement, Moratorium, Foreclosure and Diffusion. The impact of gender and age on identity status development was investigated. The association between defenses and the identity statuses was also determined. Thereafter, identity statuses, in conjunction with defenses, narcissism, and parental attachment, were related to the ego strengths of Fidelity and Love. The results suggest that generally there is no relationship between the sets of variables in this particular sample. The results are discussed in relation to existing literature, and the issue of the appropriateness of the theory and/or the measures in the present sample is raised. Key terms: defense, ego strength, identity status, narcissism, parental attachment / the Norwegian Programme for Development, Research and Education (NUFU),

Social-emotional competence has received increased attention as being critical to a student's success in the classroom. Social-emotional strengths are multidimensional and include assets such as social competence, self-regulation, empathy, and responsibility; however, previous research has not investigated which of these strengths contribute most to a student's academic success. Additionally, limited research has investigated the use of multiple informants (e.g., parents and teachers) to determine whose perceptions are more predictive of academic achievement in kindergarten students. This study examined the relationship between social-emotional strengths, as rated by parents and teachers on the SEARS (Merrell, 2011), and academic outcomes, using the AIMSweb Tests of Early Literacy (Shinn & Shinn, 2008) and Missing Number Fluency (Clarke & Shinn, 2004b), in kindergarten students (n = 154). A moderate, positive relationship between parent and teacher ratings of social-emotional strengths was obtained. When prior achievement was removed from the regression equation, social competence, as measured by parents, was the only significant predictor of current achievement in early literacy. No social-emotional strength, as rated by parents, was a significant predictor of early math achievement regardless of including or removing prior achievement from the regression equation. Additionally, teacher-rated total strengths were predictive of current achievement in reading, when controlling for prior achievement, and for math, when prior achievement was removed from the equation. Teacher ratings of total strengths were thus found to be more predictive than parent ratings of academic achievement in reading, but not math. Implications of findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

This thesis examines policy and service delivery issues in the development of health and support for families at risk. The research focuses on families with children less than 7 years of age living in some of the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods of metropolitan Adelaide. The thesis draws on evidence of (a) barriers to service support perceived by these families and (b) their strengths and resources in order to identify and develop arguments related to key issues of policy and service delivery.

<p>The Trappan Model is one of the most implemented treatment programs for children who have experienced domestic violence. This study undertakes a wider evaluation of the model through a pilot study. The approach is both quantitive and qualitative. Theory as well as the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire have been used to fulfil the aim. The design is pre-post. The respondents are thirteen children who have undergone Trappan treatment programs in Uppsala during 2007. Pre-tests and comparison groups have been used to ascertain the psychological, emotional and behavioural health of the children prior to treatment. It is evident that the children have fewer peer relationships than other children before treatment, positive changes have occurred after treatment regarding the active social development of the children.</p>

<p>The main purpose of this thesis is to theoretically study energy levels and intra-electronic transition intensities for various f-electron systems. The f-f electronic dipole transitions are parity-forbidden for a free ion but become non-zero when the ion is subject to a crystal-field. This is commonly described within the framework of Judd-Ofelt theory which accounts for the mixing of odd parity into the wave-functions.</p><p>Some refinements and quantitative studies have been made by applying many-body perturbation theory, or the perturbed functions approach, to obtain effective dipole operators due to correlation, spin-orbit and higher order crystal-field effects not included in Judd-Ofelt theory. A software for the computation of f-electron multiplets and Stark levels was implemented and published as well.</p><p>The single- and pair-functions used for the evaluation of intensity parameters were obtained by solving various inhomogeneous Schrödinger equations. The wave-functions and energies obtained by diagonalizing an effective Hamiltonian have been used together with the oscillator strength methods to simulate absorption spectrum. Consistent crystal-field parameters applied in some of the papers were obtained by fitting crystal polarizabilities to reflect the experimental Stark levels. The same crystal model was then used to generate odd crystal field parameters needed for the f-f transition intensities. The total effect of these refinements are spectral features that usually agree well with experimental findings. Some of these methods have also been applied and seen to be quite useful for the understanding of optical fiber amplifiers frequently used in today's optical networks.</p><p>Finally, a finite-difference approach was applied for the Helium iso-electronic sequence. The exact wave-function was expanded in a sum of partial waves, and accurate ground- and excited state energies were obtained by using the iterative Arnoldi approach.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D. (Social Work))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

The main purpose of this thesis is to theoretically study energy levels and intra-electronic transition intensities for various f-electron systems. The f-f electronic dipole transitions are parity-forbidden for a free ion but become non-zero when the ion is subject to a crystal-field. This is commonly described within the framework of Judd-Ofelt theory which accounts for the mixing of odd parity into the wave-functions. Some refinements and quantitative studies have been made by applying many-body perturbation theory, or the perturbed functions approach, to obtain effective dipole operators due to correlation, spin-orbit and higher order crystal-field effects not included in Judd-Ofelt theory. A software for the computation of f-electron multiplets and Stark levels was implemented and published as well. The single- and pair-functions used for the evaluation of intensity parameters were obtained by solving various inhomogeneous Schrödinger equations. The wave-functions and energies obtained by diagonalizing an effective Hamiltonian have been used together with the oscillator strength methods to simulate absorption spectrum. Consistent crystal-field parameters applied in some of the papers were obtained by fitting crystal polarizabilities to reflect the experimental Stark levels. The same crystal model was then used to generate odd crystal field parameters needed for the f-f transition intensities. The total effect of these refinements are spectral features that usually agree well with experimental findings. Some of these methods have also been applied and seen to be quite useful for the understanding of optical fiber amplifiers frequently used in today's optical networks. Finally, a finite-difference approach was applied for the Helium iso-electronic sequence. The exact wave-function was expanded in a sum of partial waves, and accurate ground- and excited state energies were obtained by using the iterative Arnoldi approach.