Homosexuality is something which has been a part of almost every society throughout history. In western society this has been a subject of secrecy and taboo. Throughout our history homosexuals have been persecuted and forced to hide their sexual identity. The effects of this on an individual should be something of concern to professionals in the mental health field. While in the past there has been little knowledge of homosexuality, and no self-expression on the part of homosexuals, there has, in recent years, been growing information and expression. The effect of this change on mental health workers is what this paper will examine. An historical survey will present the forces which shaped the current attitude of the mental health profession about homosexuality. I will present a general examination of the social ideology toward homosexuality in western society. I will also review the history of those homosexuals who have banded together for companionship, reform, and protest. This will be a context against which I will examine the attitudes of a specific group of people who care for the mentally ill--nurses and aides at a state mental hospital. The questionnaire I used to examine their attitudes surveys a broad range of possible attitudes about homosexuality. The responses will demonstrate what changes have occurred in society’s attitudes toward homosexuality. It will show, specifically, what the attitudes are of those who care for economically disadvantaged, severely disturbed homosexuals.

The Fruits of Diversity Community Orchard, located in Portland, Oregon in an affordable housing neighborhood, is a site of alternative food provisioning in which a group of people, organized by two nonprofits, work together to manage fruit and nut producing plants. Through conversations with volunteers who participate regularly and participant observation, this study explores the questions: What does community mean in the context of a community orchard? In what ways does partnering with a nonprofit from outside the neighborhood influence community and the way the project is operationalized? This thesis situates community orchards within the literature on alternative food networks (AFN) and highlights three key findings drawing on literature about community development and race in AFNs. First, neighbors and non-neighbors who participate in the project propose different definitions of community. Second, neighbor involvement is limited by a number of factors, including neighborhood divisions and organizational challenges. Notably, orchard participants do not reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of the neighborhood, putting this project at risk of creating a white space in a majority people of color neighborhood and reproducing inequality rather than fighting against it. Finally, this research complicates the notion of community in alternative food networks and demonstrates how collaborating with an organization from outside the neighborhood impacted the community through increasing non-neighbor participation and through their communications, aesthetics, decision making, and inattention to racial dynamics in the neighborhood and orchard.

Despite legal and policy advancements in South Africa, prejudice, discrimination and victimisation are still a reality for many lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people in the country. The Psychological Society of South Africa (PsySSA) has embarked on a process to develop lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) affirmative practice guidelines for psychology professionals, when working with these client populations. As a part of the larger objective, this research study highlights LGB people’s experiences of psychotherapy and counselling in South Africa as possible inputs for the mentioned practice guidelines. Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with selected participants. The results indicate that some aspects of LGB people’s experiences are similar to those of anyone in psychotherapy or counselling, but also that there are distinct differences. Negative experiences were almost exclusively due to the counsellor being disaffirming of the client's sexual orientation. Self-acceptance and the development of alternative perspectives of sexuality were more prominent outcomes of counselling compared to studies among broader populations. The participants’ feedback on a list of affirmative statements provides a potential basis for future affirmative practice guidelines. / Psychology / M. A. (Clinical Psychology)

The research on siblings of individuals with disabilities has rarely addressed the perceived benefits of having a sibling with a disability. The existing research on the experience of siblings of persons with disabilities is also limited to European American families (Sage & Jegatheesan, 2010). With families from different cultures, I sought to capture the experiences of brothers and sisters who have siblings with disabilities. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationships of siblings with disabilities and typical developing siblings, and present a holistic picture from the perspective of the typical developing siblings. These gaps in the literature will be addressed by interviewing siblings about their experiences of coping with adversity, the perceived benefits of having a sibling with a disability, and how the perceptions of the person with a disability by professionals, parents, and other family members has impacted their experiences. Participants were recruited from a pool of persons already known to the researcher and through a “snowball” approach (Hays & Singh, 2012), resulting in a heterogeneous group of eight participants. Interpretive phenomenology was the theoretical lens used for this study, as the purpose of it is to interpret and understands one’s described experiences. A semi-structured interview protocol was used to interview each of the participants three times. Themes emerged in the areas of the challenges of having a sibling with a disability, coping with those challenges, and perceived benefits of having a sibling with a disability. Lastly, messages for families, educators, professionals and future researchers are shared.

Historically, Appalachia has been stereotyped as being a culture bred in poverty and ignorance. Much research has shown that stereotyping reveals a pattern of behavioral change and an impact on psychological well-being for the stereotyped (e.g., Pinel, 1999; Woodcock, Jernandez, Estrada, & Schultz, 2012), and has largely been centered on race and gender (e.g., Byrnes, 2008; Tuckman & Monetti, 2011). Less is known about the development of culture-specific stereotypes such as those related to Appalachians – a highly stigmatized group (Daniels, 2014; Otto, 2002). The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of how adolescents in rural Appalachia develop awareness of stereotypes about Appalachia. Stratified random sampling was used to select twelve students (Grades 6-12) belonging to a small school district located in the Appalachian region of eastern Kentucky who were invited to participate in individual interviews. Eight of the participants self-identified as Appalachian, but for distinct reasons. Students characterized Appalachia for its strong sense of community, accessibility to nature, and lack of opportunities. All students readily identified negative Appalachian stereotypes, but most, particularly older students, were quick to defend the integrity of their culture and community. When discussing cultural stereotypes, the richness of student responses varied by grade-level.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-04T18:28:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Maisa Elena Ribeiro.pdf: 1061000 bytes, checksum: 0209ac8e3d06179f092b339c2cfbc3bd (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-12-09 / Pontif?cia Universidade Cat?lica de Campinas / After the National Policy of Social Assistance (PNAS) approval in 2004 and the implementation of the Unified Social Assistance System (SUAS), the psychologist became a technical team member for this public policy services, launching officially a new work field. With this participation, the psychologist deals with the popular class demands, demanding from Psychology as science and profession new conceptions and practices that can contribute in an effective way for social change and better quality of life for the target users of these services. The aim of this research was to question the psychologist presence and work in the SUAS, to reflect and discuss critically about the actions, problems and dilemmas faced by the professional in this context. It is a qualitative research based on the principals of Dialectical and Historical Materialism, where analyses of the following sources of information were carried through: technical references from the Federal Psychology Council (CFP); field diaries composed by the researcher with reflections about the participation in public events on this theme (seminars, forums, debates, etc.). The analyses of these materials showed the contradictions between what is proposed by the PNAS and the CPF orientations, with what is carried through and experienced by the professionals practice. The research results revealed that although the SUAS participation presents a new work field for the psychologist, these professionals still reproduce old practices. This affirmation is due to the identification of actions that maintain a traditional psychology perspective that tend to focus in individual and subjective aspects to understand people s problems. In addition, the professionals complained about their education and the lack of a space for discussions about their practice, what often results in actions that don t achieve their intended goals. Apart form the education problem, which doesn t encompass this new context and field of work, the professional encounters in the SUAS services problems such as: inadequate work conditions due to the lack of physical infrastructure required for the services operation, also precarious working attachments. However despite the problems, the research also identified practices that converge with the SUAS demands such as: community participation and group works with a collective and participative bias. Furthermore, it was identified some strategies to overcome problems and dilemmas through collective organization and political participation of some professionals, for example, the SUAS workers forum. / A partir da aprova??o da Pol?tica Nacional de Assist?ncia Social (PNAS) em 2004 e implementa??o do Sistema ?nico de Assist?ncia social (SUAS), o psic?logo comp?e as equipes t?cnicas dos servi?os dessa pol?tica p?blica, inaugurando oficialmente um novo campo de atua??o. Com essa inser??o, o psic?logo lida com demandas das classes populares, o que exige da psicologia, como ci?ncia e profiss?o, novas concep??es e pr?ticas que possam contribuir de forma efetiva para mudan?a social e melhoria da qualidade vida do p?blico-alvo destes servi?os. O objetivo dessa pesquisa foi problematizar a inser??o e atua??o do psic?logo no SUAS, para refletir e discutir criticamente sobre as a??es, problemas e dilemas enfrentados pelo profissional nesse contexto. Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa fundamentada no Materialismo Hist?rico Dial?tico, em que foram realizadas an?lises das seguintes fontes de informa??o: Refer?ncias T?cnicas do Conselho Federal de Psicologia (CFP); e Di?rios de Campo constru?dos a partir das reflex?es da pesquisadora durante a participa??o em eventos p?blicos sobre o tema (semin?rios, f?runs, debates etc.). As an?lises desses materiais explicitaram as contradi??es entre o que ? proposto pela PNAS e nas orienta??es do CFP com o que ? realizado e vivenciado pelos profissionais na pr?tica. Os resultados da pesquisa apontaram que apesar da inser??o no SUAS representar um novo espa?o de atua??o para o psic?logo, os profissionais ainda reproduzem velhas pr?ticas. Tal afirma??o deve-se ? identifica??o de a??es que mant?m a perspectiva de uma psicologia tradicional que tende a deter-se apenas aos aspectos individuais e subjetivos para a compreens?o dos problemas das pessoas. Ademais, os profissionais queixaram-se da sua forma??o e da falta de espa?o para discutir sua pr?tica, o que, muitas vezes, faz com que a repercuss?o de suas a??es n?o atinja os objetivos almejados. Al?m do problema da forma??o, que n?o atende a esse novo contexto de atua??o, o profissional ainda encontra nos servi?os do SUAS diversas outras dificuldades como por exemplo: condi??es inadequadas de trabalho devido ? falta de infraestrutura f?sica para funcionamento dos servi?os e v?nculos de trabalho precarizados. No entanto, a pesquisa identificou tamb?m pr?ticas convergentes com as demandas do SUAS como: a inser??o na comunidade e trabalhos em grupos com um vi?s mais participativo e coletivo. Foram ainda identificadas algumas estrat?gias de supera??o dos problemas e dilemas por meio da organiza??o coletiva e da participa??o pol?tica de alguns profissionais, como por exemplo, os f?runs de trabalhadores do SUAS.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T13:30:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Celia Maria Marcondes Ferraz Silva.pdf: 899850 bytes, checksum: 8bf9aec6a377cbb7b8ce5bddb05ec61c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-08-14 / The subject for the present project is to contribute for the history of the Social Psychology in Brazil showing that Silvia Tatiana Maurer Lane (1933-2006) has an important contribution for the theoretical propositions concerning the Brazilian social psychology that was adopted for other social psychologists, professors and social scientists. To work as a professor has a key influence for Silvia s thoughts and ideas. She has often been criticism of the psychology with American influence, as well as in relation to the classic methods of teaching in Brazil. The PUC-SP institution where she works for forty years provides her a freedom and an open environment that enhance her way. In order to study Silvia s publications and live had been used personal documents, books, interviews and biographies made by other authors. The personal documents found in the Núcleo de Estudos em História da Psicologia-NEHPSI give us an important contribution for our conclusions and show her strong image as a professor and scientist in Brazil and abroad. The analysis of Silvia s productions demonstrates a strong relationship among the socio historic environment and her ideas over the course of lifetime work. In order to analyze Silvia s thoughts and ideas has a key importance a non-edit text named My way wrote before her death with the intention to prepare a book with a collection of writings published or not, which ones was difficult to achieve. This text allows us to understand the structure given by her to her own thoughts. We discovered that the language psychology, the theoretical bases for a Brazilian social psychology, the community psychology, the studies concerning the process to become a group and the emotional mediation, represents subjects that have been present throughout the course of her life s generating researches, texts, courses and presentations. Time pass and new views and considerations have been added to these themes. The work was not finished before her death living space for other texts and studies in future / Nosso propósito ao elaborar esta tese é contribuir com o estudo da Psicologia Social no Brasil, mostrando que Silvia Tatiana Maurer Lane (1933-2006) teve importância relevante na formulação das bases teóricas de uma Psicologia Social Brasileira, adotada por psicólogos sociais, professores e pesquisadores. A atividade docente foi fundamental para a formação do pensamento da intelectual respeitada, tendo se desenvolvido por meio de uma postura crítica, permanente, à psicologia social de influência americana e aos métodos tradicionais de ensino. A PUC de São Paulo, instituição na qual trabalhou durante quarenta anos, proporcionou à Silvia um ambiente de liberdade intelectual que favoreceu o seu trajeto. Escolhemos para estudar a autora um caminho ainda não trilhado por outros pesquisadores que falaram a respeito da ilustre professora, conduzindo a nossa pesquisa, em especial, a partir dos documentos pessoais encontrados no acervo deixado na PUC de São Paulo sob a guarda do Núcleo de Estudos em História da Psicologia-NEHPSI, além de livros, entrevistas e biografias escritas por outros autores. A análise do percurso de Silvia nos mostrou conexões importantes entre o seu trabalho e o contexto sócio-histórico e revelaram o prestígio da professora no Brasil e no exterior. Para o estudo das ideias, tomamos por base um texto ainda não publicado, denominado: Caminhos percorridos , escrito pouco tempo antes da sua morte e cuja finalidade era preparar uma coletânea dos seus textos, publicados ou não, mas de difícil acesso. A leitura nos permitiu entender a estrutura dada por ela ao seu próprio pensamento. Constamos que a psicologia da linguagem, as bases teóricas para formulação de uma psicologia social brasileira, a psicologia comunitária, o processo grupal e a mediação emocional são temas que estão presentes ao longo de toda a obra, gerando pesquisas, textos, cursos e apresentações, recebendo ao longo do tempo, novos olhares e releituras que fizeram avançar a compreensão dos temas. A obra não se encerra com a sua morte, deixando espaço para novos estudos e textos a serem produzidos

Decades of research have shown that there are significant advantages to maintaining close communicative and collaborative relationships between primary care and behavioral health providers. Fiscal, structural, and systemic barriers, however, often restrict the degree to which such interprofessional collaboration can occur. In the present study the authors examined relationships between primary care clinics in the Appalachian region’s characteristics (i.e., clinic type, rurality, and clinic size), barriers (i.e., fiscal, structural, and systemic) reported to using increased collaboration, and the level of collaboration used at a particular clinic. For the present study 136 surveys were completed by providers working in primary care practices across the Appalachian region of Tennessee. The results showed that only about one fifth of the primary care clinics in Appalachian Tennessee reported engaging in moderate to high levels of primary care behavioral health (PCBH) collaboration (e.g., colocated or integrated models of care). Among community health clinics, however, nearly half reported moderate or high levels of collaboration. The findings of this study underscore the importance policy change (e.g., changes in reimbursement patterns, increases in incentives, introduction of PCBH models in training programs) in facilitating the uptake of high levels of PCBH collaboration in Appalachian Tennessee (especially in regards to nonpublicly funded clinics). Further, the methodology used in this study could provide policymakers and researchers in other regions of the U.S. with a means for obtaining baseline data regarding local trends in PCBH collaboration and could serve as first step in developing a standardized methodology for comparing the overall uptake of PCBH collaboration models across regions.

This research aims to fill a research gap by examining video games to explore whether gender, age, or hours played per week would exert any influence on the information of those who may or may not play video games. Mood Management Theory and Uses and Gratification Theory were used as the theoretical foundation for this study. Four-hundred-three East Tennessee State University students who received the survey via email were asked to voluntarily participate in a survey about their motivations behind playing video games. Results from MANOVA showed that the motivations of male participants on video games were significantly higher than were female participants on video games. Moreover, those who claimed to play five or more hours of video games per week were significantly higher than those who claimed to play zero hours per week.

Though mental health issues are prevalent in Black young adults, they underutilize mental healthcare services. This research examined the role of feature-based discrimination in mental healthcare (under)utilization. Study 1, a secondary analysis of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, provided no evidence supporting a link between skin tone and mental healthcare utilization, when controlling for depression diagnosis. However, when controlling for depression symptoms, there was a trend such that Black young adults with darker, as opposed to lighter, skin tone utilized healthcare less. Study 2, an experimental study with 33 Black college students, showed 73% of the sample preferred a Black counselor. Additionally, they preferred counselors with darker skin, wider nose, and thicker lips, compared to counselors with lighter skin, narrower nose, and thinner lips. These findings suggest the importance of taking into account Afrocentric features and its social consequences when assessing health-related behaviors in Black Americans.