Thesis (D. Min.)--Western Seminary, Portland, OR, 2006. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 196-202).

This study has been made for the purpose of determining the similarities and dissimilarities in certain factors related to mutual friendships.

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Proceeding from an autoethnographic representation of the friendship, what I sketch out in this thesis is a ceaseless attempt to testify my involvement in the process of knowing the person and the prolonged course of observing a severe mental illness and to illuminate the peculiarities of such a relational circumstance with the inevitable difficulties in honouring our commitment. The central purpose of this study is to creatively provide a theological space to understand the experience of mental illness and to show how the veracity of past memories and the on-going construction of friendship boundaries reflect the shifting combination of reason and emotion that connects kin over the evolving story of a person's mental illness. I offer fresh insights which draw out the need to understand mental illness as much more than mere suffering and mental health as much more than the absence of symptoms. In reflecting theologically on the peculiarity of the friendship, I make use of Martin Buber's I-Thou and I-It mode of relationships in which my interpretation of a beloved friend's mental illness revolves around focusing on the person rather than the description of the illness. In dealing with the emotional challenges in relation to people with mental illness, I suggest that the Christian practice of lament offers a space to theologically articulate the deep sense of grief, abandonment, and emptiness in the context of mental illness. I also suggest the Christian practice of hospitality as an important resource for the constructive Christian response to mental illness and reflect the fundamental recognition of home in connection to hospitality. Subsequently, I offer a model of friendship which inevitably exposes the limits of commitment and sympathy while affirming the extraordinary power of love which seeks solidarity and sustains the relationship with a person with a severe mental illness.

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Turn is a collection of personal essays that loosely focus on what it means to become an adult. The topics of the essays range from crushes to dog walking, from weddings to working at a New Orleans snoball stand. The essays deal with how much more complicated the world turned out to be than as a child I expected.

Thesis advisor: Julie Paquette MacEvoy / Children’s relationships with friends during middle childhood play a vital role in shaping their interpersonal competencies as well as their general socioemotional adjustment across development (Bierman, 2004; Glick & Rose, 2011; Ladd, 2005). Children’s friendships provide a rich context in which young people begin to develop expectations for peers and first encounter experiences of disappointment in close, voluntary relationships with others (Wiseman, 1986). Previous research and theory are clear that key gender and developmental differences exist in how boys and girls conceptualize their relationships with same-gender friends (Hall, 2011; Maccoby, 1998; Rose & Rudolph, 2006; Thorne, 1993; Underwood, 2003) and how they respond when these friends commit violations of their core friendship expectations (MacEvoy & Asher, 2012). Little is known, however, about the contexts under which these gender and developmental differences occur. Therefore, the present study was designed to examine associations among children’s friendship expectations and their purported style of responding to transgressions of varying chronicity (e.g., in response to singular versus repeated violations of their friendship expectations). This study also explored associations among children’s style of responding to transgressions and their socioemotional wellbeing. A sample of 245 third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade children from two elementary schools in the greater Boston area was utilized in the analyses. Mean- level similarities as well as differences emerged in boys’ and girls’ responses toward friends who had committed transgressions of their friendship expectations. Regression analyses further showed that gender moderated the relationship between friendship expectations and children’s endorsement of revenge goals and aggressive strategies. Lastly, gender and grade-level were also found to moderate the relationship between children’s endorsement of revenge goals and aggressive strategies and their feelings of loneliness, but not friendship quality. Overall, findings highlight that boys and girls share many similarities in their responses to friendship expectations transgressions; however, they also embody distinct strengths and vulnerabilities in their styles of managing these violations. Clinical and developmental implications are discussed. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology.

Background and aims The social and personal relationships of people with learning disabilities were explored, including the characteristics of their social networks, the extent of social integration and the availability of social support. It was hypothesised that people with learning disabilities would be less socially integrated, have more restricted social networks and more limited. social support than a comparison group of people with physical disabilities. Design and participants A mixed methodology was employed. In the-first part of the study participants were 30 people with learning disabilities, a nominated carer for each of the 30 participants and a comparison group of 17 people with physical disabilities. The second part of the investigation consisted of semi-structured interviews with 6 of the people with learning disabilities. Measures Measures used included-the Life Experiences Checklist, the Circles task, the Social Support Self Report, the Functional Support Inventory and the Social Circles Questionnaire. The author devised a semi-structured interview to assess understanding of different kinds of relationships. Transcripts were analysed using content analysis. Results Levels of integration were better than expected in all areas apart from relationships. Participants reported a mean social network size of 11.7, significantly lower than the comparison group. The networks of people with learning disabilities were largely composed of family or friends with learning disabilities whereas non-disabled friends made up the majority of the network for the comparison group. There were few differences between the groups in terms a of perceived social support. Themes identified from the interview data included the provision of emotional support by friends and betrayal of trust in romantic relationships. Implications The findings indicate that- people with learning disabilities may be functionally but not fully socially integrated within the community, thereby lacking opportunities to experience a wide range- of relationships-_ Directions for future research are suggested.