Adolescents who were admitted to the Adolescent Psychiatric Unit at Vancouver General Hospital for assessment between 1981 and 1983 who were queried to be in the process of developing a long term psychotic illness were followed retrospectively after five to seven years. At the time of assessment the subjects were between 13 and 16 years of age. The study was intended to act as a pilot project for a larger study. In tune with a biopsychosocial emphasis, outcome was defined as a multi-directional and multi-dimensional concept, involving both positive and negative outcomes in a variety of dimensions. Independent variables were drawn from a structured interview which pertained to the subjects' experience with family relationships, peer relationships, use of treatment resources, educational and employment achievement, drug and alcohol usage, legal difficulties, and quality of life issues since their hospitalization. Three structured outcome measures were used as dependent variables. These included scales which assessed current levels of family functioning, satisfaction and happiness, and community adjustment. Bivariate analysis was conducted using SPSSX:3. The resulting description of the population indicated a heterogeneous group with a variety of outcomes. Although some of the subjects fit the profile for chronic mental illness, diagnosis did not predict outcome. Positive outcome appeared to be associated with stability in overall family functioning, and in particular with the subjects' reports of a positive relationship with their fathers; with the ongoing use of treatment resources; with ease in establishing peer relationships; with self-motivatioin in the area of employment; and with the ability of subjects to move from alternate school settings back into the regular system. Subjects who described their families as having problems with control issues and with task accomplishment appeared to have had trouble in a number of areas during the intervening couse. Acceptance of the need for ongoing treatment was associated with the subjects' characterization of their families as being within norms for social values and norms at the time of outcome, suggesting the tendency of families and treatment personnel who have similar values to ally. Subjects who had had minimal or sporadic contact with treatment resources described their families as being weak in most areas of functioning, and in particular in the area of values and norms. The findings suggest several avenues for further exploration in a larger study. They also support a consideration by treatment resource personnel of the need to involve families as resources in the treatment process, and point to areas in which treatment interventions can be made. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

The teacher of the emotionally disturbed student must provide an educational setting for pupils unable, or unwilling, to appropriately interact within the regular educational setting. The teacher, ultimately, decides classroom scheduling, academic experiences, social interactions and order of the room. In short, teaching style and the teaching personality shape the learning environment. Style of teaching is evidenced by the management techniques utilized within the classroom. The purpose of this study is to determine if differences exist in the classroom management techniques employed by educators of emotionally disturbed children and youth assigned to (a) resource rooms in the public school setting, (b) self-contained classrooms in the public school setting, and (c) residential treatment centers as determined by the Classroom Management Profile (Bullock & Zagar, 1980).

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This study was a subset of a large two-year randomized controlled trial of two employment programs providing services to people with severe mental illness (SMI). Because prior research has found that the strength of the relationship, or working alliance, between service providers and people with SMI is related to a variety of beneficial outcomes, the purpose of the current study was to address the working alliance between participants and their vocational workers and its association with employment outcomes, including the total duration of paid employment over two years and mean paid job tenure after two years. Another primary purpose of the current study was to determine whether working alliance differences exist between a team vocational approach (Diversified Placement Approach) and an individual vocational approach (Individual Placement and Support Model). The final aim of the current study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the ad hoc scale utilized to measure the working alliance. Contrary to expectations, no relationship was found between the working alliance and employment outcomes after two years. As expected, it was found that participants in the individual vocational approach (IPS) had higher working alliance scores across the study than participants in the team vocational program (DPA). Finally, the working alliance measure used in this study was found to have promising psychometric properties, including adequate criterion-related validity and test-retest reliability, although the internal consistency was a bit low. The scale items are a loose fit with existing theory, however, necessitating the addition of items and revision of the current scale and underlying theory to enhance its utility in clinical and research settings.

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No description available.

The federal program of deinstitutionalizing psychiatric facilities has resulted in a well documented, ever-increasing mentally ill population in the nation's prisons and jails. Historically, the criminal justice system has maintained a laissez-faire attitude toward the mentally ill, and only became involved with the mentally ill when a crime had been committed. As such, the President's Mental Health and Criminal Justice Consensus Project was developed to explore ways that the two systems could work together to address the growing problem of the mentally ill offender. However, challenges arise because the criminal justice system has typically been viewed as a loosely coupled, fragmented system that is unwilling or unable to address the social issue of the mentally ill offender. The concept of coupling between agencies has serious ramifications for the ability of agencies to successfully collaborate. Theoretical foundations for collaboration between mental health and criminal justice agencies lie partly in labeling theory and the drive to avoid the negative stigmatization of the mentally ill by the formal criminal justice system. A second theoretical foundation is found in developmental theories, which seek to explain the development of organizational knowledge and skills, in handling mentally ill offenders, through interaction between the mental health and criminal justice systems. In this study, it is asserted that agencies that are appropriately coupled and have experience with collaboration will perceive greater benefits from the collaborative exchange. Furthermore, this leads to the main hypothesis of the current study that agency coupling and collaborative experience will increase the perception of benefits of collaboration and support of collaborative efforts that deal with mentally ill offenders. To assess the main hypothesis of the current study, a modified Dillman methodology was utilized. The research population consisted of a complete enumeration of the 20 Florida State's Attorneys Offices, the 66 County Sheriffs, the 54 Probation Office Managers, and the 313 municipal law enforcement agencies for a total study population of 453 possible respondents, of which 49% responded. Overall, the findings of the current study illustrate a willingness of agencies to couple with outside agencies to address the phenomenon of the mentally ill offender. The results provide theoretical support for the need to reduce the negative stigma of a mentally ill individual being additionally labeled a criminal offender. The results additionally bolster the belief that the knowledge and skills to do this can best be accomplished through interaction with outside agencies.

Qualitative, exploratory and descriptive research study was conducted using the case study approach. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of family members caring for a long term mentally ill patient suffering from schizophrenia. Purposive sampling was used to select one family who cared for the patient for more than two years. Data was collected through the process of in-depth, unstructured individual interviews. Interviews were tape recorded and transcribed verbatim. Themes, categories and sub-categories were finally identified. The findings revealed that although the family was willing to care for the patient at home, they experienced challenges to provide basic care. Other challenges included were lack of adherence to treatment, financial constraints, substance abuse, social stigma, fear and concerns about the patient’s future. A conceptual map was designed to reflect the major concepts of the findings / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)

Qualitative, exploratory and descriptive research study was conducted using the case study approach. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of family members caring for a long term mentally ill patient suffering from schizophrenia. Purposive sampling was used to select one family who cared for the patient for more than two years. Data was collected through the process of in-depth, unstructured individual interviews. Interviews were tape recorded and transcribed verbatim. Themes, categories and sub-categories were finally identified. The findings revealed that although the family was willing to care for the patient at home, they experienced challenges to provide basic care. Other challenges included were lack of adherence to treatment, financial constraints, substance abuse, social stigma, fear and concerns about the patient’s future. A conceptual map was designed to reflect the major concepts of the findings / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)

The story of the mentally ill is a tale which is filled with unpleasant facts. Only a very few persons have even a semblance of knowledge about mental deficiencies and those citizen unfortunates who have borne, or will travail, under the throes of such a mysterious affliction. Those people who do know the narrative of the "lunatic," too often are unwilling to reveal their expertise.Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation is to follow the history of those multitudes of mentally ill persons from primitive to contemporary times. One's attention will be focused upon the diagnosis and subsequent treatment of insanity in ancient Egypt and Greece, Europe during the Dark and Middle Ages, England prior to and during the adventures at empire, colonial America, Indiana prior to and after statehood, and specifically Delaware County, Indiana from 1869 through 1927.The research has shown that ages of abuse, restraints, banishment by popular consent from society, sequestration, and indifference toward the mindless in humanity have not explained the ambiguity of mental illness, dwindled man's apprehension regarding the mentally incapacitated, or put to rest his troublesome inner thoughts.In conclusion, little has changed. In contemporary times mankind tends to waver between throwing madness wholly out of perception and out of psyche, and complying with humanitarian impulses to heal the sick souls.It appears that the treatment of the mentally ill has gone full cycle. From remote but centralized places of containment in earliest times, the mentally ill were then supported rather ineffectively at county and local places in accordance with poor law regulations. Then came the advent of state-supported hospitals to replace the often despicable county and local poor farms and jails. But today the collapse of that whole system seems virtually ready to take place as funding becomes less adequate. The feeling is that the mentally ill can better be cared for at local levels. And so once again, the "unwanted" human cargo of concern will soon be back on the serpentine path to resume the life that just a little over a century ago was thought to be grossly inhumane.

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration