The purpose of this research was to examine changes in demographic information and time use patterns over an eight year time period for husbands in Roanoke area families. The information was used to create profiles of three subsamples in the study. Husband’s time use was recorded for both weekend and weekdays in 1978 and 1986. The men were analyzed as a whole and then broken down into three age cohorts so that they could be "tracked" over the eight year period. Analysis of variance and t-tests were used to determine significant differences in time use patterns. Descriptive statistics provided information on demographic changes that occurred. Demographic changes included increases in age, family income, size of homes, education, and hours of employment of both husband and wife. Appliance ownership increased with a specific increase of 78% in microwave oven ownership. Change in use of outside help over the years was most evident in the decrease in help with child care and the increase in help with housecleaning. Changes in time use included increases in employment hours and decreases in household work time, nonwork (leisure) time, and personal maintenance time. Within the category use were physical husbands of household work, significant decreases in time found in both weekend and weekday samples in care of other family members. On weekdays, grouped as a whole, spent significantly less time in household work and eating. On weekend days, significantly less time was spent in physical care of other family members by all husbands, while the middle aged group of husbands spent significantly less time in nonphysical care of other family members. / Master of Science

The purpose of this research project was three-fold: to assess differences on family functioning scores among a "healthy" sample and a nonclinical group; to explore subscale differences in regard to family communication, family activities, frequency of disagreements and marital satisfaction; and, to examine differences in correlations between family functioning variables across the two groups. The <i>Family Functioning Index</i> (Pless and Satterwhite, 1973) was administered in the form of a Family Life Questionnaire and completed by 96 "healthy" families and 53 nonclinical families from various counties in Northern Virginia. Seven hypotheses were tested. A series of t-tests were computed at the .05 level of significance in order to assess subscale and total score differences. Pearson-r correlations and Fisher's z-transformations were conducted at the .05 level to determine differences, if any, in correlations across the two groups. The results indicated that family communication, family activities, and frequency of disagreements did not distinguish between the "healthy" and nonclinical families. In addition, no significant difference was I found on total family functioning scores between the two groups. However, the "healthy" families did score significantly higher on the marital satisfaction subscale implying that happiness in marriage may be an indicator of family “health”. / M.S.

The purpose of this research is to explore the relationship between fatherless homes and juvenile delinquency, especially as it is perceived by African American adolescent males (N=23) who have been detained in a juvenile detention facility. This study is ethnographic, exploratory, and inductive in its approach. Hypotheses are generated or discovered rather than tested. The methodology that is employed is multi-dimensional as it includes in-depth interviews, self-reports, and participant observation. The findings suggest that adolescent African American males perceive father-absence as a partial causal factor in their own delinquency, and their peers’ delinquency as well (suggesting most strongly a social control hypothesis, although other possible explanations exist). Family structure (i.e., father-absence) appears to be related to delinquent behavior through the mediating variables of parental supervision, discipline, and gender role modeling. The results from this study suggest that the dynamics within a family system are more important in explaining delinquent behavior than is the actual family structure. Some of the most insightful research into family structure and delinquency, especially research that aims to inform prevention and treatment programs, may come from examinations of how family structure and function are related. / Master of Science