Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Advocates of divorce conciliation argue that it is preferable to the legal resolution of disputes over children because it gives parents joint responsibility for decision-making which leads to more suitable settlements and ones more likely to be implemented. This thesis seeks to gain an understanding of the conciliation process and thereby test the assumptions implicit in such statements. It is based upon the examination of interview and observation material from clients and conciliators of one out-of-court Conciliation Service and includes a statistical description of the Service. It also discusses the question of responsibility for attendance at, and participation in, conciliation; concluding that many parents interviewed had not taken such responsibility. The major part of the thesis, based on a detailed examination of transcripts of tape recordings or conciliation appointments, argues that the construction of the problem is vital to the conciliation process and analyses the way conciliator interventions narrow the area in which the problem can be located and focus on feelings and relationship difficulties. It further argues that the process includes and depends on the construction of a particular concept of parental responsibility. This prioritises communication, co-operation and joint decision-making and becomes the rationale for a range of sometimes conflicting solutions constructed as a result ot conciliator initiatives. The later part of the thesis examines the ways in which conciliators seek to motivate parents to agree, relating this to the current conciliation/therapy debate, and to the use of expert knowledge. Finally this thesis investigates the influences on parents which are external to conciliation. This reveals complexities which may affect the outcome of the process of conciliation. It is concluded that much of the present debate is conducted on the basis of inadequate empirical knowledge and conceptual frameworks which produce a blindness to such complexities.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed Sept. 1, 2009). Additional advisors: Lois Christensen, Kay Emfinger, Grace Jepkemboi, Deborah Strevy. Includes bibliographical references (p. 98-102).

Thesis (D. Ed. Min.)--Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2004. / Includes abstract. "November 2004." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 123-127).

The aim of this study was to ensure that the Sefton Educational Psychology and Portage Service (SEPPS) maintained a high quality service to very young children, their families and settings while responding to the national changes in Children’s Services prompted by Every Child Matters (ECM) (DfES, 2003) and changes in team structure and personnel at a local level. The methodology used was based on the appreciative inquiry (AI) 4-D cycle described by Coghlan, Preskill and Catsambas, (2003) and consisted of four phases which were implemented over a period of eighteen months: Discovery, Dream, Design and Destiny. During the Discovery phase of the project, three educational psychologists (EPs) provided rich narratives illustrating what drives them to work with very young children, families and settings and the contribution that they think EPs make to this area of work. Individual EP’s views of their own skills were corroborated by interviews with parents and analysis of all seven parental stories confirmed that the service that they received met the EPs’ expectations of best practice. In Phase Two, (Discovery/Dream) a workshop was held with representatives of the EP team’s other early years stakeholders to introduce them to AI and to elicit their perceptions of best practice in partnership working. The findings from the inquiry were then used to inform the work of the team during the period from April 2009 to February 2010 (Design/Destiny). Progress was tracked both formally and informally. At the end of the Destiny phase, the stakeholders involved in Phase Two of the project were interviewed to gather evidence on whether they had been able to apply AI in their own work and whether they had noticed any differences in the early years’ work of EPs since attending the initial workshop. The data collected by the author and other members of the EP team (who acted as co-researchers) included interview transcripts, worksheets, flipcharts, reflection/evaluation sheets and minutes of meetings. Each of these elements was analysed individually and collectively by the author according to the principles of thematic analysis, as described by Attride-Stirling (2001), Carter (2004) and Braun and Clarke (2006).At the end of the project, some of the stakeholders interviewed reported that the AI workshop had transformed their way of working from a deficit model to a strengths based model. There was also evidence that attendance at the workshop had changed participants’ perceptions of the role of the EP, facilitating improved channels of communication and the development of a shared vision. Each member of the early years EP team was mentioned in at least one positive story, indicating that high standards of service delivery were maintained during a period of considerable change. The extent to which AI contributed to this process and the challenges presented by this methodology are also discussed.

This thesis examines funerary iconography for evidence of Roman attitudes towards children, childhood and the family. Based on 690 portrait monuments drawn from select areas of the Western Empire, its central hypothesis is that the commemorations are best read as highly artificial constructs which reveal more about the social preoccupations of the commissioners than the lives of the children whom they represent. The first of the seven chapters defines the parameters of the accompanying catalogue and discusses the benefits of studying a diverse range of monuments (rather than isolated "show-pieces"). The methodological section which follows assesses the cultural limitations and identification problems inherent to funerary material and considers how the terms "child" and "portrait" are best defined in this medium. The four subsequent chapters analyse the following key areas: the ages, genders and attributes of children; the presentation and composition of the family; the iconography of surrogate and extended relationships; and the archaeological context of funerary display. In each case any emotional interpretations which surround the material are discussed and then countered with alternative, and better supported, social readings. It is argued that previous research has been based on samples which are too limited in terms of size, genre and geographical scope and influenced too heavily by a desire to prove parental benevolence and the existence of "love" and "affection" within the Roman household. By exposing demographic biases and iconographic problems, it is shown that commissioners were actually using the image of the child for overtly social purposes, with some of the results being subject to substantial, and hitherto unacknowledged, regional variation. The conclusion then reassesses a well-known example to show that while Roman parents did attach importance to their children, funerary evidence can only prove it to be of a social, rather than an emotional, nature.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, 2006. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 193-196).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, 2006. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 193-196).