This project dissertation, entitled Death, Dying, and Grieving: Providing a Ministry of Caring, approaches the issue of establishing a ministry of caring for parishioners who are experiencing grief. Also included in this work is how the disciplines of sociology, anthropology, archaeology and psychology have attempted to address the issue of death and grief. A biblical history of death, dying, and grief is discussed and a theological framework for grieving. The dissertation gives a description of the development of a counseling group, support group and all of the intricacies involved in the institution of a ministry of caring for the Mount Ephraim Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia.

In the contemporary society choice of career is sex-stereotyped. There are more females in educational and nursing careers, and there are more males in engineering and science careers. Females and males perceive their roles in the society in a sex-stereotyped way and they try to fit into culturally appropriate sex-roles. People make causal attributions for different situations in life and think and behave according to the causal attributions they make. The research question of this dissertation asks if sex-role and attributional style affect career choices, and if the answer is different across cultures. Two studies were concerned with the relationship between sex-role, attributional style, and career choices at college and high school levels in two different cultures (the United States and Romania). Comparisons were made also between females in single-sex high school and coeducational high schools. A third study determined the changes in career choices following attributional retraining. Results from the studies show that career choices are sex-stereotyped and sex-roles influence choice of career in both cultures. The sex-stereotypical choice of careers is more evident in Romania. Females in single-sex education schools report more adaptive sex-roles and attributional styles, and they choose more diverse career fields than females in coeducational schools. Attributional retraining is related to changes in career choices.

There has been a dramatic increase in the number of juveniles who have had contact with the legal system over the past 10 years. However, there is a dearth of research investigating the forensic services provided to juvenile offenders by psychologists. The goal of the present study was to assess the types of forensic services psychologists provide to pre-adjudicated juvenile index offenders. One hundred and thirty-seven registrants of the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology (NR) replied to one of three versions of a questionnaire. Data were obtained regarding demographic and professional characteristics of respondents, whether they conduct forensic evaluations, and whether they provide forensic interventions. Results indicated that the majority of psychologists who provide forensic services to juvenile offenders are Caucasian males, approximately 51 years of age, who work in private practice or do private consultations, and who have been in practice for approximately 19 years. Furthermore, the majority of these psychologists are members of the American Psychological Association, received their Ph.D. degree from a graduate program in clinical psychology, and received no formal or supervised predoctoral or postdoctoral training in forensic psychology. The frequent legal/forensic questions psychologists are asked to address when conducting forensic evaluations are placement recommendations, followed by competency to stand trial, treatment recommendations, and whether a juvenile should be transferred to adult criminal court. Regardless of the type of legal/forensic question asked, psychologists frequently use the following assessment methods: juvenile and/or parent interview, a Wechsler Scale of Intelligence, the MMPI, and the Rorschach. They also review archival data on the juvenile, such as educational and psychological records and police reports. Reducing the risk for recidivism is the primary reason why psychologists are asked to provide forensic interventions, and the most common intervention provided is cognitive-behavioral therapy. The most commonly used outcome measure assessing treatment progress is a behavior checklist or rating scale. The results of the present study were compared to the existing literature on psychological services provided to juvenile offenders. Limitations of the present study and suggestions for subsequent research are also discussed.

Counselors are currently being scrutinized as to their place in a community college setting. Administrative units are questioning whether counselors are necessary, and whether they should maintain their past role. But before changes are made, the full scope of the role needs to be examined. Previous studies have concentrated on role definition, looking primarily at which tasks counselors perform and their job satisfaction. I first examine the counselor's role using a role definition format to provide a baseline of data to compare with other studies. Then I considered three other elements--intangible services, professionalization, and the bureaucratic setting--that I proposed were contributing to the uncertain position of counselors in community colleges. This is a qualitative case study of community college counselors. Personal interviews with counselors were utilized as the primary source of data. The case study institution is a large, urban, multi-campus community college. Results indicate that counselors are satisfied with their generalist role of providing primarily career and academic counseling, providing a very small percentage of personal counseling and providing a variety of other services. This is unlike the literature which suggests that counselors are dissatisfied with the generalist role and prefer a more specialized personal counseling role. The counselors in this study were frustrated by their perceived role by other groups. They felt misunderstood and unappreciated. Consequently, they searched for ways to make their services more visible and understandable. They also relied heavily on their professional status to validate their role. But rather than emphasizing their traditional professional counseling characteristics like the use of a theoretical body of knowledge or specialized training and certification, they underscored their similarity to the instructional faculty who command the highest professional status in community colleges. The counselor's role was also highly effected by bureaucratization. The very nature of bureaucracies induces human interaction that is brief and efficient, but not necessarily meaningful. Improving human interaction is where counselors need to focus their efforts, rather than dwelling on professional status. And, administrators must also consider human interaction rather than just dividing tasks and measuring the number of students served.

The Cohesion, Expressiveness and Conflict subscales from the Family Environment Scale were compared to the Language and Social Development subscales from the Denver II utilizing a sample of families in treatment for having a substance abusing parent. An analysis was conducted to determine the relationship between these variables and to explore their relationship to various risk factors the families were experiencing. In support of previous research the relationships between the variables was relatively low. A ceiling effect may have influenced the results as most of the children achieved high scores on their developmental assessments. The results also showed that the predictability and discriminant ability of the variables is limited. An initial and exploratory analysis was conducted with two new instruments created for the project, the Parent Questionnaire and the Child Rating Scale.

Despite misgivings about the effect of relocation on the family, companies are relocating a record number of employees. Particularly effected by these transfers is the significant other in the relationship--the trailing spouse. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect relocation has on the career of the trailing spouse. Participants of this study were women over the age of 18 who were currently married and had relocated because of their husband's career. To assess the effect, the Career Development Questionnaire was developed and administered. Results of this study showed there was a significant difference in attitude toward relocation between the homemaker and those who chose careers outside the home. The homemakers stated that relocating had no effect on their careers. Due to relocation, the career group agreed they had to: change occupations, change career goals, and take lower positions or salaries in order to find work.

Research indicates that nearly half of all persons infected with HIV are substance abusers. Experts have called for chemical dependency treatment professionals to prepare to deal with infected clients in their programs. The purpose of this study was to develop a handbook to help addictions counselors prepare to work with clients diagnosed with HIV spectrum disease. The historical research method was used to develop the handbook. The outline for the handbook and the completed manuscript were each evaluated by a group of counselors working in the field of outpatient addictions treatment. The evaluations indicated that the handbook will be useful for substance abuse counselors. Changes suggested by the evaluators will be made prior to publication. Implications for further research and literature in this area were presented.

The first article, The Physician as Educator (1904), discusses the misconception parents and educators hold regarding child-rearing practices. Both believe they must continually try to mold a child according to their perceived ideal. Alfred Adler discusses the futility of such a notion and emphasizes that parents and educators can only develop or hamper children's natural tendencies, or better yet, direct them toward cultural goals. Adler feels that only the educator or physician, who has overcome his/her own shortcomings will be capable of developing the child's potential and reveal the healing power in the patient. The second article, The Sexual Problem in Child Rearing (1905), points to the importance of using children's sexual awakening for educational purposes. He warns of the dangers of sexual precocity and perversity caused by faulty upbringing, but states that sexual perversity can be cured through love.

The purpose of this study was: (1) to measure and compare the differences in the levels of anger in unemployed workers who have been laid off due to company or plant closure and unemployed workers who have been laid off due to a reduction in force (RIF) and (2) to compare the relationship between level of anger and length of time with an employer prior to layoff. The population for this study consisted of 52 male and female adults over 21 years of age, residents of Arizona, who had been laid off or had received advance notification of impending layoff. The State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI) was the instrument used in this study to measure levels of anger. Additionally, two demographic questions were asked concerning reason for layoff and number of years with the company that laid the individual off. None of the hypotheses were supported by the data. Discussion, implications, and recommendations for further research are also presented.

This naturalistic research describes adjustment to parenthood in an ethnically diverse group of out-of-school adolescent mothers enrolled in an educational program. The process of adjustment was investigated, as well as what factors impede or enhance adjustment for these mothers. Ethnic differences were considered along with the role of the educational program. Implications for program planning are discussed. Data collection consisted of interviews, observations, a Life Events Checklist, and a review of program files. Difficult home lives and the frequency of stressful events prior to pregnancy led to a relatively easy adjustment to parenthood for these mothers. Adjustment was enhanced by support; most frequently provided by the program, partners, and families. Partners and families also were the most frequent cause of difficulties that impeded adjustment. The major differences between ethnic groups were in family structure and support systems. The educational program served as a major source of relational support for these mothers.