Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Home Economics Education. / Bibliography: leaves 134-136.

Thesis (M.A.)--Colgate Rochester Divinity School/Bexley Hall/Crozer Theological Seminary, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-100).

Thesis (M.A.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Theatre and Film. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 176-182).

Thesis (M.A.)-- Brigham Young University. Dept. of English, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 57-60).

Thesis (M.A.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Theatre and Film. / Electronic thesis. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 176-182). Also available in print ed.

Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Home Economics Education. / Electronic thesis. Bibliography: leaves 134-136. Also available in print ed.

The purpose of this study was to (a) describe the characteristics of divorced Mormon women residing in Salt Lake County, (b) determine the extent to which these women were aware of and used government, private, and Mormon church agencies after divorce in helping them solve their problems, and (c) determine the extent these women felt each agency was effective.Responses from the questionnaire indicated that more than half of these women could be categorized as displaced homemakers. Results showed significant decreases in income before and after divorce. The women in this study had higher than national average occupational levels and income levels. The results of this study showed that these women used the Mormon church and its agencies significantly more often than government and private agencies and institutions. Furthermore, they also felt these Church agencies provided a significant amount of help with problems of personal adjustment, children's problems, and family management.

A number of theorists with commitments to the women's movement have stated that the traditional sex-role for women results in low self-esteem. The remedy which they advocate is for women to enter into the male-dominated workforce, and by successfully asserting themselves gain power, prestige, wealth, and an increase in self-esteem. Other theorists have stated that assertiveness training can help women to both increase in assertiveness and in self-esteem. Empirical studies, however, have been inconclusive as to whether assertiveness and self-esteem are positively correlated. The present study examines self-esteem and assertiveness in a sample of Mormon women, a group which advocates the traditional sex-role, to see if their level of assertiveness, their level of self-esteem, and the correlation between the two variables for them would be any different than for the non-Mormon women living in their area. Samples for both groups in the Roanoke, Virginia area were selected and surveyed by mail using the Rathus Assertiveness Schedule, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. The first hypothesis that the Mormon sample would be significantly less assertive than the non-Mormon women was not supported, although for all but the working mothers the Mormons were slightly less assertive. The second hypothesis that there would be no significant difference in self-esteem for the two groups was supported. In fact, the Mormons scored slightly higher than the non-Mormons in self-esteem. The third hypothesis that the correlation of the means of the two variables would be significantly less for the Mormon sample was supported at the .05 level; however, for both groups the correlation between assertiveness and self-esteem was very high, reaching a significance level of .0001. The results of this study lend support to the theorists and researchers who contend that assertiveness and self-esteem are positively correlated. They also lend support to the Mormons who claim that the traditional sex-role is not detrimental to self-esteem, and that a woman can be successful in that role and have adequate selfesteem without being highly assertive. The finding that there is a very high correlation even for the Mormon women between self-esteem and assertiveness was interpreted to mean that the traditional sex-role too requires a number of the social skills which comprise assertiveness, and that the Mormons may be teaching their women some of these skills when they socialize them to be successful in the traditional role. The results of this study also lend support to the symbolic interactional theoretical framework that self-esteem comes not from the role in which one chooses to perform or even from the success one has in fulfilling that role, but, rather, from one's perception of the value of the role and one's perception of one's success in fulfilling the role. / M.S.

This thesis is comprised of ten Mormon women's miscarriage stories and it is their stories that are used as the text for my analysis. The purpose of the study is to provide a space for these women to share their experiences and to reveal their cultural values and beliefs. Because the women are all Mormon, there are some distinctive cultural and religious values that are shared within their stories and it is these aspects that are analyzed and discussed within the text.Women need to be able to share their miscarriage stories so as to alleviate feelings of isolation and grief. Many of the women in the interviews agreed that talking to others about their miscarriage helped them to feel less isolated and that they were not alone in their experience. Because there is no specific ritual in our society for miscarriage, women struggle to know how to deal with their grief. Again, being able to talk about their experience provides a "marker" to remember the pregnancy--to animate the invisible.A common response found with women who miscarry is a sense of guilt--guilt that they somehow caused the demise of the pregnancy by strenuous physical exercise, feelings of uncertainty about wanting the pregnancy or taking medications that could affect the baby. These feelings of guilt extended into religious issues as some of the women questioned whether the miscarriage was a result of their spiritual state or their relationship with God.The women also talk in detail about the actual physical occurrence of the miscarriage. Many described how they felt about their bodies during and after the miscarriage. There were feelings of embarrassment or weakness and they questioned why their body had reacted the way it did. Enabling the women to talk about their bodies in such an intimate and personal way can be empowering as well as an excellent means to educate the women's societies about the real physical and emotional effects of miscarriage.

Within the Mormon culture, women are expected to marry, raise children, and be a "helpmeet" to their husbands. Both men and women are taught that they cannot attain the highest degree of heaven unless they are married in a Mormon temple, where they have been "sealed for time and all eternity." Although neither one can achieve this lofty goal without the other, and although there are some aspects of the Mormon culture in which there is a fair degree of equality between men and women, there is no denying that this is a patriarchal culture. Men hold the priesthood and they preside in their homes. The woman is the man's companion and counselor. Kathy Haynie converted to Mormonism when she was just eighteen, and she met and married her husband only two years later. She is committed to her religion and to her new family, and so she is as surprised as anyone when she begins to chafe under a manipulative and controlling husband. She is naive and credulous, and so she assumes that she needs to pray more, keep her mouth shut, and endure to the end. All of that changes when she attends a week of outdoor training for Boy Scout leaders, where she is one of only a handful of woman, and the only woman in her training patrol. Near the end of the week, Kathy realizes that she has been ignoring a self she has held within for fifteen years. Torn between her love of her children and her commitment to stable family life, and the increasing need she feels for genuine companionship, Kathy navigates the uncertain realm of friendship with one of her scouting friends. We watch her blossom as she gains confidence and skills to take her family out into the wilderness at the same time that she is deluding herself about her involvement with her friend. Family, faith, and friendship collide in this memoir of a Mormon wife and mother.