The purpose of this study was to identify the perceived environmental factors which characterize the institutional climate of a community college that attracted increasingly large black enrollments. Forty-six black students and 12 college administrators were interviewed. The College and University Environment Scales Opinionnaire (CUES) was administered to 53 black students. A demographic data form was used to collect student data. Naturalistic, qualitative methods were used to analyze interview data; the 66+/33$-$ method was used to analyze CUES data. / A conceptual framework combining sociotechnical systems theory and themes from the literature on positive environmental stimuli for black student support led to the study's research questions. / Students were mainly attracted by individual attention from caring, accessible instructors, low tuition, small class size, academic support program climate, academic advisement, and the nursing program's professional credibility. As measured by CUES, the dominant feature of the climate was Propriety. Significantly different perceptions were found on all scales based on age, sex, enrollment status, class load, and work load. The Quality of Teaching and Faculty Student Relationships scale measured the highest congruence among all subgroups. / Administrators largely attributed the attraction to: an institutional commitment to equity; positive articulation with the two nearby universities; opening an outreach center and dual enrollment center in nearby county; academic support programs; counseling and recruitment efforts; changes in the structure and human elements; top leadership philosophy; and communication of a clear value orientation. They identified interventions across all subsystems of the sociotechnical model as initiatives contributing to the attraction of black students. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-12, Section: A, page: 3866. / Major Professor: David Leslie. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

Professionals in the area of child sexual assault prevention have been concerned about reducing this phenomena risk by arming children with assertive skills, healthy self-concepts and prevention tactics and information. The primary purpose of this dissertation was to determine from which disseminator children were able to learn greater amounts of sexual abuse prevention guidelines. The research question addressed differences in outcome on the Information Dissemination Questionnaire, (IDQ), based upon the information disseminator. / One hundred and twenty-one children were randomly assigned to the following three comparison groups: a group trained by a designated independent resource in a school setting; a group trained by parents who had attended the parent training, and a minimal treatment group. All three groups of children initially viewed the film, "No More Secrets." Children in the first experimental group received additional information from a designated independent resource in a school setting in a presentation entitled, "Safety Rules." Parents of children in the second experimental group were trained in the school setting by the same designated independent resource in a presentation titled, "How to Talk to Your Children About Sexual Abuse." These parents were then asked to discuss the information with their children in Group B within the two weeks following the training. The parent training included a viewing of the film, "No More Secrets," a lecture entitled, "How to Talk to your Children about Sexual Abuse;" and (for modeling purposes) a videotape of the independent resource discussing the film, "No More Secrets," with the children of the first experimental group. Children in this group also saw the film. Children in the minimal treatment group only viewed the film. / All three groups of children participated in pre- and post-testing using the Information Dissemination Questionnaire as the outcome measure. Data was analyzed through a Chi$\sp2$ for for each item on the IDQ. Significant results were obtained on IDQ items 7, 8 and 9. Treatment C primarily contributed to significant results on item 7. Treatment B contributed to significant results on items 8 and 9. Non-significant results were obtained on IDQ items 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, and 13. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.) / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-03, Section: A, page: 0629. / Major Professor: F. Donald Kelly. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1988.

This study examined the characteristics of self-reported career beliefs among community college students. Specific hypotheses proposed a relationship between career beliefs and level of career decidedness, level of vocational identity, and gender. The dependent variables, career beliefs, consisted of thirteen factor-variables derived from successive principle-components analysis of 49 items from the Career Beliefs Inventory (Krumboltz, 1988). / Subjects (N = 686) were divided into "treatment groups" according to their levels of career decidedness and vocational identity based on their scores on the Occupational Alternatives Question (Zener & Schneulle, 1972) and the Vocational Identity Scale of My Vocational Situation (Holland, Daiger & Power, 1980) respectively. Significant multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) effects were found for career decidedness, vocational identity, gender, and for the interaction of vocational identity and gender. / Subsequent univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that subjects with low career decidedness were more likely to believe that external forces are responsible for their career decision making, and tended to be comfortable with their level of career indecision, compared to persons with moderate or high levels of career decidedness. Subjects with moderate career decidedness believed that college is necessary for a good job. / Subjects with high vocational identity were significantly more uncomfortable with career indecision, and more likely to believe in striving their best, even if success was uncertain. Subjects with low vocational identity believed in setting low goals and minimizing their efforts to avoid failure. The latter also tended to exaggerate the importance of events, and to externalize responsibility for their career decision making. / Male subjects believed that a college education is not essential to their career success, while females believed that college is a critical requirement for attaining a good job. Finally, in this study, females with high vocational identity were less likely to be employed as compared to males, or to females with low vocational identity. / The study suggests that career counselors should be concerned with the private rules and beliefs which may affect client career choices. Specific limitations and implications for future research are discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-12, Section: A, page: 4025. / Major Professor: James P. Sampson, Jr. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

This study investigated the relative contributions and the potential interactive effects of interpersonal dependency, intimacy, and control, as they relate both to the initiation and maintenance of current and chronic depression, and to the perceived marital satisfaction, of wives between the ages of 25 and 44. Subjects included 89 married female volunteers employed by the school system of a rural southeastern town. Seven self-report instruments assessed the impact of eleven predictor variables on five criterion variables. / Multivariate analyses consisted of seven canonical correlations and two separate causal models. Findings included the following: (1) Perceived discrepancies between actual and desired amounts of marital control did not contribute significantly to either depression or marital satisfaction. Gaps on the vacation decision, alone, were inversely related to marital satisfaction. (2) Perceived discrepancies between actual and desired levels of emotional, recreational, and intellectual intimacy were inversely related to marital satisfaction. (3) Wives who were interpersonally dependent upon their husbands were also more likely to experience depression. Emotional reliance was not significantly related to marital satisfaction. (4) The first path analysis demonstrated that the presence of emotional support is a critical causal factor for marital satisfaction, while its absence is critical in producing depression. Similarly, emotional reliance is a causal factor for depression. (5) The second path analysis separated out from emotional support the "Conventionality" or the "My relationship must look good" factor. The contribution of emotional support to either criterion variable diminished dramatically, while the relationship between emotional reliance and depression held. These findings and their implications for future research are discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-06, Section: A, page: 1561. / Major Professor: Gary W. Peterson. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

Research has shown that the interactive effects of client locus of control and helping professionals delivery style are highly predictive of client behavior. However, this relationship has not been established with regard to sport psychology services. The present study compared the interactive effects of two different instructional methods (high and low control) in combination with athletes' locus of control orientation, with regard to athlete satisfaction and compliance with a psychological intervention designed to enhance sport performance. Locus of control was also examined for change over time within athletes. / Individualized sport psychological intervention cassettes were distributed to 11 high school baseball athletes. Participants were required to play the cassette once a day and fill out a Daily Accountability Form. They were also asked to complete a Daily Goals Form and other questionnaires often used in applied sport psychology work. / No differences between the two instructional methods were observed, in terms of any of the criterion variables (compliance, satisfaction, performance, locus of control). Reasons for the failure of resultant data to support the two stated research expectations are discussed as are recommendations for future research. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-11, Section: A, page: 4316. / Major Professor: David Pargman. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among several variables including four indices of organizational culture gaps, job satisfaction, job performance, the perception of performance appraisal fairness, salary, and caseload size. Two hundred and twelve counselors in the state of Florida completed three questionnaires for this study: the Rehabilitation Job Satisfaction Inventory, the Kilmann-Saxton Culture Gap Survey, and a demographic questionnaire designed for this study. / Multiple regression analyses procedures were used to examine the relationships among the culture gap indices, perception of performance appraisal, caseload size, and salary fairness and job satisfaction and job performance (dependent variables). Perception of performance appraisal, caseload size fairness and the task support culture gap were found to be predictive of job satisfaction. Task innovation culture gap and perception of salary fairness were found to be predictive of job performance. The seven independent variables in combination were found to explain 28% of the variance in job satisfaction and 07% of the variance in job performance. The relationship between job satisfaction and performance was not found to be significant. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-01, Section: A, page: 0079. / Major Professor: E. Jane Burkhead. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

This study examines victimization through firearms, knives, and other weapons among 1663 high school students in ten inner-city schools across the United States. In accounting for victimization patterns, emphasis is placed on socio-demographic characteristics, exposure to guns outside school, exposure to violence in school, and illegal activities which may place students at a greater risk of being victimized either in school or in transit to and from school. Relying on recent research based on the lifestyle/routine activities approach, the study focuses primarily on the behavioral characteristics (i.e., arrest record, gang membership, drug sales) of the students as contributing factors to victimization. The results strongly support the arguments suggesting that exposure to guns out of school and illegal activities have significant effects on the likelihood of victimization. With regard to the former, the findings indicate that weapons carrying among male relatives and perceived access to guns in the neighborhood increase the risk of victimization net of the influence of other variables. Additionally, the findings show strongest support for the lifestyle/routine activities approach, as indicated by the significant effects of arrest record, gang membership, weapons carrying, and involvement in drug sales on violent victimization net of the influence of additional variables. Criminological and policy implications regarding the major findings of this study are considered / acase@tulane.edu

This dissertation applies the human capital model to explain school retention decisions of teenagers. The probability of school retention among children ages 15 through 19 in 1960 and 1980 is determined using logistic regression. Census of the Population data is analyzed for young men and women, separately. / Changes in the probability of school retention as well as variations in the significance of explanatory variables over time are examined. Consequences of changes in social, political and legal preferences in the twenty year period are measured with respect to the explanatory variables included in the model. / The results of this dissertation suggest that maternal education, family income, family size and status, and full-time, long-term maternal employment are important determinants of a child's decision to remain in school. Teenagers living in an intact family other than the first marriage or in a single-parent headed household are less likely to remain in school. The model specifies a mother's employment by the duration of the work over time as well as the full-time nature of the employment. With the exception of teenage pregnancy and marriage among young women, the determinants of school retention diminish in importance with additional maternal education. / Finally, given the trends in the distribution of children by maternal education, maternal labor force participation, and family status, the opportunity costs faced by teenagers as well as the quantity and quality of parental inputs received suggest a negative impact on future school retention decisions. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-03, Section: A, page: 0910. / Major Professor: James D. Gwartney. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.

Emergent Mentor Behavior of community college and research university faculty, from hard and soft disciplines, was studied to determine the frequency and type of behavior in which they engaged in their normal role and customary behavior. The investigator utilized a Faculty Activity Questionnaire in seeking the answers to the following questions: (1) Is there a significant interaction between institutional type and academic discipline on emergent mentor behavior? (2) Is there a significant effect of community college or research university on emergent mentor behavior? (3) Is there a significant effect of Biglan's Hard and Soft disciplines on emergent mentor behavior? / Emergent Mentor Behavior was identified as the composite score of seven (7) elements of mentor behavior described by Levinson (1978): teach, sponsor, counsel, host guide, exemplar, developer of skills and intellect and supporter of the dream. / The differences between mean scores of faculty at a community college and a research university in Hard and Soft academic disciplines were computed. An analysis of variance was used to determine the significance of the differences. Type and frequency of behavior was determined by adding scores and utilizing a scale. / Frequency of Emergent Mentor Behavior (EMB) was identified by a composite score of all mentor behavior element scores. Type of mentor behavior was identified by a composite score derived from four (4) behavior statements representing each mentor behavior element. / Faculty were found to engage in emergent mentor behavior, "sometimes", once or twice per month. The most frequent mentor behavior element engaged in by faculty was supporter of the dream and the least frequent behavior elements were host guide and exemplar. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-03, Section: A, page: 0734. / Major Professor: David W. Leslie. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.

While studies largely support Tinto's model of student retention, consistent estimates of effects are lacking. Furthermore, many two-year institutions are largely commuter institutions, bringing into question the usefulness of a retention model which stresses social integration. Consequently, the problem is that the effects of academic and social integration on student persistence among residential, two-year college students are uncertain since this population has not specifically been targeted in the field of student retention research. / The purpose of this study was to provide insight into the problem of student departure at Abraham Baldwin College (ABAC), a two-year residential college in Tifton, Georgia, by studying the patterns of student persistence among four student groups: commuting students, residential students, academically high-risk students and students considered not to be at risk academically. / Abraham Baldwin College's student database was the source of data for this study. An institutional survey was conducted during the spring quarter 1991 of 846 students (39.4 percent of the student population) which added to this database items concerning the academic and social integration of the students. The hypotheses were tested using a t-test for contrasting beta weights. / Even though only two of the six hypotheses were statistically significant, the results provided by the standardized regression coefficients were consistent with much of the previous research on student retention. These results indicated that social integration served as a greater estimate of effect on persistence among both the residential students and those students considered to be "not-at-risk" academically. Social integration had a negative effect on persistence among the developmental studies students (academically at-risk students). / Academic integration served as a greater estimate of effect for the commuting students and the developmental studies students. Consequently, the commuting student group and the developmental studies students share patterns of persistence and a mutual need: academic integration. The necessity for all students to become integrated into the academics of college life is vital but more so for the academically at-risk and commuting students. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-03, Section: A, page: 0682. / Major Professor: Louis Bender. / Thesis (Ed.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.