Hurricane Katrina has profoundly altered the lives of New Orleans residents as they continue three years following the storm to attempt to rebuild their community and their lives. Natural disaster literature has historically focused on the impacts on individuals and correlating variables. Significant literature gaps exist regarding family systems and disaster and analysis of the relationship of social class to recovery. This qualitative investigation situated in an emancipatory paradigm investigated the relationship between social class and family changes for seven Katrina families self-identified as members of marginalized social classes. Study conclusions reveal significant shifts in family identities and a strong relationship between social class perceptions and family recovery experiences. Additionally, data indicates participation was an emancipatory experience for study families.

This study described spousal reactions to loss following a cancer related death. Anticipatory grieving behaviors and variables unique to cancer were examined using Lazarus' cognitive appraisal paradigm. An interview which focused on self-reported changes in thoughts and feelings from time of diagnosis to the time of the death was administered by the researcher to thirty men and/or women whose spouses had died from cancer over the past two and a half years.;Individual responses to the interview questions were categorized according to type of response. The findings suggest that the majority of men and/or women whose spouses have died from a cancer related death over the past two and a half years experienced changes in thoughts and feelings about the death from the time of diagnosis to the time of death as a result of the nature of the disease. The changes in thoughts and feelings followed a variety of patterns, most commonly, a change from being realistic about the outcome to wishing that the spouse would die. Forty percent of the subjects indicated that their thoughts and feeling remained unchanged throughout the illness.;The findings also suggest that most men and/or women whose spouses have died from a cancer related death discuss death and dying with their spouse, were preoccupied with thoughts of their spouse's death, and experienced changes in their personal roles. Almost half of the sample utilized do not appear to experience changes in their thoughts and feelings regarding spousal death as a result of anticipatory grieving behaviors.;The findings also suggest that men and/or women whose spouses have died from a cancer related death experience feelings of sadness, disbelief, guilt, confusion, longing, anxiety, and relief at the time of spousal death. They do not appear to experience a loss of faith at the time of spousal death. Some of the men and/or women interviewed expressed feelings of happiness, peace, and intense relief at the time of spousal death resulting from cancer.

This study examined the relationship between parenting, adolescent personality, and adolescent optimism. Four hundred and eighty families with at least one adolescent child in the Seattle, Washington area completed a series of questionnaires assessing parenting style, personality, and optimism. Results from hierarchical regression analyses indicated that there is a small, yet significant, portion of the variance in optimism explained by parenting and personality individually, but that the relationship between optimism, parenting, and personality dynamics is far more complex than originally anticipated. Further research is needed to examine the nature of these relationships and to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the predictors of optimism.

The purpose of this study was to determine the implementation status of Response to Intervention (RtI) in the elementary schools (N = 35) in one urban school district in Virginia. The relationship between the implementation of the academic components of RtI, collective efficacy, parents' trust in schools, the number of referrals for special education, and student achievement was also investigated. The factor analysis revealed that RtI for Academics included Universal Screening, Effective Instruction/Tiered Interventions, and Progress Monitoring. Family Involvement was determined to be a separate construct made up of two factors, Family Engagement and Physical Presence. The implementation status of this district indicated that the schools were between early and full implementation of RtI for Academics. RtI for Academics was found to be significantly correlated with teachers' perceptions of the impact of RtI on the reduction of the number of referrals for special education (r = .41, p < .05) when controlling for the socio-economic status of the students. The district mean score for Family Engagement indicated that parents are engaged in their children's education. Parents' responses regarding their Physical Presence in the schools ranged from neutral to agree. In this study, Family Engagement was found to be significantly correlated with Physical Presence, collective efficacy, and parents' trust in schools. Parents' Trust was found to be made up of four factors: (1) Trust in the Teacher, (2) Trust in Administration, (3) Trust in High Standards, and (4) Trust in School Safety. Finally, the Multiple Regression revealed that these variables when found collectively in schools explain 27% of the variance in student achievement.

An extensive review of the literature on foster parent effectiveness yielded only one study (Horner and Ray, 1990) specifically focusing on "treatment" foster parents. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between moral and ego development and treatment foster parent effectiveness and attitudes. The Defining Issues Test, Washington University Sentence Completion Test, and Adult-Adolescent Parenting Inventory were administered to 103 treatment foster parents and the Treatment Foster Parent Effectiveness Scale was completed for each of the foster parents by their primary caseworker. The design was descriptive utilizing correlational comparisons between each of the variables. Additionally, the variables were considered in combination with demographic variables: gender, age, race, marital status, education, and foster parenting experience.;Treatment foster parents who exhibited higher levels of moral reasoning were more likely to display more appropriate and nurturing parenting attitudes. The ability to empathize was found to be positively related to treatment foster parents' overall effectiveness as well as their level of ego and moral development. The results also suggest that treatment foster parents may have more nurturing and appropriate attitudes than "regular" foster parents. Treatment foster mothers also displayed more appropriate and nurturing attitudes than treatment foster fathers. The findings from this study coupled with previous research linking higher cognitive developmental stage with more effective teaching, parenting, and counseling skills substantiate a rationale for applying a cognitive developmental framework for screening, training, supervising, and developing treatment foster parents.

This thesis is a record of a journey into the pioneer past both literally and metaphorically. The physical journey retracing the Oregon and Mormon trails was made in September of 1993, the year I was a National Endowment for the Humanities/Reader's Digest Teacher-Scholar; however, my intellectual and emotional journey into the lives of pioneer women covers several years of study. I compare my life experiences with those of pioneer women whom I studied, using geographical settings on the trail trip as memory triggers. My husband, as my traveling companion, plays an important role in this journey of discovery. Major themes are the contrast between public images and private attitudes, restoration and reality, independence and dependence, stereotype and individualism. In addition, I explore needs to balance family demands with personal aspirations, to deal with illness and death, to assess the value of material possessions, and to appreciate connections with other women. The trail trip serves as a catalyst for the exploration of a personal journey defining my own womanhood and that of other women as well.

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This study examined the relationship of three types of martial commitment and religiosity factors in a random sample of I ,316 Utah adults. Participants were surveyed to assess attitudes of marriage, divorce, and marriage education. A lack of commitment was cited by 83% of divorced adults as a major factor for their divorce. The level of commitment to spouse, commitment to marriage, and constraint commitment was determined by extrapolating items from the 2003 Utah Marriage Movement Statewide Baseline Survey. Religiosity included measures of the frequency of church attendance, church affiliation, and religious values. Regression analyses that included socio-demographics showed the strongest and most consistent predictor of commitment to spouse and commitment to marriage was religious values. This study confirms the distinct difference but strong interplay between the three types of marital commitment. There was a negative relationship between both commitment to spouse and commitment to marriage and constraint commitment. Premarital cohabitation was positively related to constraint commitment but negatively related to commitment to spouse and commitment to marriage. Frequency of church attendance, conservative church affiliation (particularly The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints religion), and religious values were all significant factors related statistically to marital commitment. Study findings suggest that educators and marriage therapists engaged in helping couples can productively focus on marital commitment, the influence of religious activity, and belief systems in strengthening marriage relationships.

A comparison of perception of locus of control and identification of goals between delinquent and non-delinquent juvenile females was conducted. The delinquent sample consisted of 20 female students at the Idaho State Youth Training Center. The non-delinquent sample consisted of 20 female students from two Idaho Public Secondary schools. The non-delinquent subjects were paired with the delinquent subjects as closely as possible according to age, religion, education, size and composition of family, and size of home town. The instruments used were: (l) a background questionnaire, (2) a goal identification questionnaire, and (3) Rotter's I-E scale. The difference between the mean I-E score of the delinquent subjects and the non-delinquent subjects was not significant. The non delinquent subjects identified significantly more goals, both long-term and short-term, than the delinquent subjects, Both samples identified goals in all five categories, but the non-delinquent subjects identified significantly more goals in the paid employment, individually oriented, and interpersonally oriented categories. The inverse correlation between the number of goals identified and the subjects' I-E score was not significant.