Violent physical behavior incidents were collected from a sample of 81 out-patient mental health charts from 1972-1992, the purpose of which was to determine if an association existed between violent behaviors in intact biological families and intact stepfamilies. A chi square test $\chi\sp2$ = 1.89 with a significance level of.388 showed no difference in the incidence of violent behavior in biological and stepfamilies. Biological families accounted for a larger percentage of violent behaviors (63.2%) and total number of current perpetrators (44%) than stepfamilies (36.8%) and current stepfamily perpetrators (26%). Victims were overwhelmingly children (89.5%) clustering between the ages of 9-18 (84.2%). Of these, 63% were male and 37% were female. Slapping accounted for the most prevalent and repeatedly reoccuring type of violent behavior (80%) perpetrated of all violent behaviors across all ages and in both family types.

This study is concerned with the ways in which people organize their attitudes toward abortion. The dissertation explores two conceptually distinct aspects of public attitudes toward abortion: characteristics of abortion situations that impinge upon moral acceptance of abortion, and the social and ideological attributes that individuals bring to bear upon their judgments of abortion situations. Two research instruments, a factorial survey and a conventional telephone survey were administered to an age-sex stratified sample of adult respondents from Greenfield, Massachusetts. The factorial survey design was used to generate thousands of hypothetical abortion situations that vary in terms the life course characteristics, health and financial status of the pregnant woman, as well as the overt reasons for an abortion, the phase of gestation, and the views of parents and partners. The results indicate that among the various characteristics that describe an abortion decision, three factors have the most significant impact on abortion attitudes: the reasons individual women provide for their abortion decisions, the phase of gestation, and the general health of the pregnant woman. Second, age differences in abortion attitudes suggest cohort effects on the structure of abortion attitudes. Respondents are also more sympathetic to abortion decisions made by vignette women who share their marital status and parity. Third, a comparative analysis of the two methods used to measure abortion attitudes show that they essentially capture the same structure of attitudes. Supplementary data from a conventional telephone survey was used to place abortion attitudes within a larger context of attitudes and beliefs in three other domains: Sexuality/reproduction, human life, and gender roles. Abortion attitudes are strongly related to human life values and attitudes in the domain of sex/reproduction, but only moderately related to gender role ideology. Furthermore, the abortion belief structure and its links to beliefs and values in other life domains have changed historically, and show variation across subgroups of respondents defined by age, religion and gender. In sum, abortion attitudes are shaped by past experiences, current life circumstances and the overall vague orientation individuals bring many aspects of social and personal life.

This study explores the nature of computing-at-home for student learning and examines some ways computer-using teachers are encouraging use of personal computers at home. The study answered two research questions: (1) How do families who have a personal computer at home use them for student learning? (2) To what extent do computer-using teachers encourage their students to use home personal computers for learning? Data were collected from two samples. The first consisted of PC-owners who read A+ Magazine. This sample of self-selected participants described, in 500-words, how they used their Apple II to teach at home. Using content analysis, the investigator documented three patterns of how families used PCs at home for student learning: (1) Parent as Child's Teacher; (2) Child as Teacher; and (3) Child Teaching Self. Data also implied that families considered the PC a valuable educational tool that increased learning and helped improve attitudes toward learning. The second sample consisted of 178 computer-using teachers who attended the Minnesota Educational Computing Conference on November 12-14, 1989. Data collected from a self-administered questionnaire implied 79% of the sample encouraged students to use PCs at home. Seventy-two percent indicated they had talked with students' parents about using PCs at home to promote learning, and 46% indicated they had loaned software to students for use at home to reinforce a concept or skill. The study also uncovered data for future research. A statistically significant relationship existed between teacher PC ownership and (a) teacher encouragement of students use of home PCs to complete school-related assignments, and (b) teachers talking with students' parents about using the home PC to promote learning. Recommendations for practice were proposed. The primary recommendation was to encourage educators and school districts to explore ways to support use of PCs by families, while also being conscious of issues of equity. In order for the home-based PC to be an effective educational tool, educators need to find ways to coordinate with families to maximize its use.

The intent of this research project was to develop a greater understanding of the long term effects of maternal bereavement. A phenomenological research design, employing the conversational in-depth interview, was used. Participants were asked to describe, in their own terms, how they experienced the death of their child and how that experience had evolved over the intervening years. Of particular interest were the internal processes and mechanisms used in the development and evolution of maternal grief, the present quality of life and the women's concept of self and of the world. An interview guide, refined in a pilot study, served to identify the potential scope of topic areas. Constant comparative analysis, as applied to grounded theory, guided data collection and analysis. Common themes were identified as: survival, including motivation and strategies; adaptation to life without the physical presence of the child; the presence or absence of support; purpose and meaning of the death and the reconstruction of purpose and meaning in current life. Common patterns included an expanded empathy for those in pain and crisis; a connectedness with universal pain; a shift in values and priorities; an increased motivation to be of service and to make positive use of the pain and growth that had ensued as a result of the child's death. The adaptation to life without the deceased child involved emotional, spiritual, cognitive and behavioral processes. Common to all participants was the use of spiritual processes in the reconstruction of purpose and meaning in life without the child. The majority of participants retained a connection with the child who had died through a felt presence or ongoing relationship with the child. All the participants expressed the belief that maternal grief is a life-long process, with no final resolution or completion. Within these commonalities, the data reflected the idiosyncratic and dynamic nature of maternal bereavement. Each woman's story remains uniquely her own yet mirrors the indomitable qualities and courage of human survival in the face of overwhelming loss.

The aim of this study was to increase our knowledge about the prevalence and nature of childhood sexual abuse in Latino populations. Specifically, data was gathered for the following purposes: (1) to determine the prevalence of childhood sexual abuse and sexual experiences in a sample of Puerto Rican college students, (2) to identify risk factors associated with them, (3) to analyze the nature and degree of trauma reported by victims, and (4) to examine the differences between the Puerto Rican sample and a New England college student sample previously studied by Finkelhor (1979). Self-reports of childhood sexual experiences were obtained from 571 Puerto Rican undergraduate students (206 males and 365 female) at three institutions of higher education in Puerto Rico. The mean age of participants was 22.2 years. A Spanish translation of sections of a self-report questionnaire developed by Finkelhor (1979) was used to gather the information. Seventeen percent of male students and 17% of female students reported childhood sexual experiences that were classified as child sexual abuse on the same age discrepancy criteria used by Finkelhor (1979). No statistically significant differences were found between the percentage of female students (17%) who reported childhood sexual abuse experiences in this study and the percentage (19%) in the New England study (19%) by Finkelhor. A higher percentage of male participants (17%) in the present study reported childhood sexual abuse as compared to males (9%) in Finkelhor's original study. This represented a significant difference (X$\sp2$ = 8.27, p $<$.01) between males in the present study and Finkelhor's. Sexual abuse experiences occurred most often between 10 and 12 years of age for both sexes and in both studies. No differences were found between the students who reported childhood sexual abuse in this study and those who did not in terms of demographic and other family background characteristics. Twenty-one percent of the abusers were female and 79% were male. Thirty-eight percent of the childhood sexual abuse experiences reported by girls and 33% of those reported by boys were with family members. Females reported more negative reactions to the experiences and higher degrees of trauma than males.

Even though most psychological theories postulate the father's influence in the daughter's choice of mate, few studies have addressed this specific aspect of the father-daughter relationship. The subject has remained basically unexplored within the Puerto Rican culture, especially within the predominantly middle class family. This research used an exploratory mode due to the scarcity of research in this area. Subjects selected consisted of 120 Puerto Rican women, ages 30 to 50, who had at least a high school education, who lived in Puerto Rico, and who were involved in an ongoing heterosexual relationship with a husband or companion. Participants filled out a demographic and a research questionnaire developed for this study consisted of two sections of a Likert type scale, one section of a Semantic Differential and an open-ended question. The questionnaire explored daughters' perceptions of their fathers, husbands/ companions and themselves. The study also included five individual interviews of father-daughter dyads. Overall results found statistically significant differences between the two groups (fathers and husbands/companions) for each one of the characteristics measured: similarities between father and husband/companion; parents' and mates' childrearing practices, expectations and teachings; their assimilation of father's and mother's teachings; their father-daughter relationship; their parents' and their own marital relationships. Analysis of responses to the questions about characteristics and behaviors of the fathers and husbands/companions of the participant's perceptions indicates that daughters do not choose mates exhibiting behaviors and/or characteristics similar to their fathers. Analysis of other questions directly asking the daughters about resemblances between the two revealed that most of the participants perceive their partners as being more similar than not to their fathers. The daughters of divorced parents reported significantly less similarity between fathers and husbands/companions. Even though not significantly different, the mean scores of daughters with deceased fathers fell in between the daughters of divorced fathers and the daughters with fathers still alive. Oral interviews disclosed similarities between subjects' fathers and husbands/companions and the pursuit of partners that were opposite to fathers on specific qualities or behaviors (e.g.: alcoholic father; non-drinker husband/companion).

The purpose of this study was to learn the effects of gender similarity and gender differences, as perceived by supervisees, on the supervisory process. Because there was no instrument available for gathering data in this area, the Supervision Inventory for Family Therapy (SIFFT) was developed. This organic instrument was constructed from ideas in the literature, conversations with therapists, and papers on supervision from students. It was distributed to a sample of 200 therapists who were in the role of supervisees. Statistical analyses were performed on data from the 102 returned instruments. A factor analysis determined three scales which became the dependent variables. Analysis of variance determined significant statistical findings on one scale. However, the reliability was very high,.96 and.93 on two scales, and.70 on the third scale. Therefore, the findings on all scales were also considered with the belief that a larger sample would increase the probability of more powerful statistical findings. The significant finding was different than expected in that male supervisors were seen to have less control of the supervisory process than did female supervisors. There are unanalyzed data which will provide more information on interaction between supervisors and supervisees. Future research on gender and supervision might include behavioral observation and adaptation to non-mental health supervisory relationships.

This research focused on the subjective career perceptions of five professional women, all of whom had established career histories. Using the qualitative interview as a vehicle for data collection, their views were solicited concerning motivation, job satisfaction, career plans, career expectancies, and career importance. These interviews were particularly concerned with the ways in which the subjects described and accounted for their career experiences. The data which emerged was analyzed using the "grounded theory" by which the concepts and hypothesis of career development emerge from basic testimony rather than from previous theoretical assumptions. As the transcripts were analyzed, six major themes emerged from their stories; namely, work as an extension of the self, balance between career and family, the significance of work to others, autonomy, sex discrimination, and the nature of the professional task. In addition to the emergence of these themes, an integrative change process unfolded by which the women in the sample coped with the task of balancing these major themes around their sense of a career identity. A graphic model is presented which demonstrates the nature of this integrative process.

This study explored the trust subjects experience for a significant other and for oneself. Twelve people were chosen to participate in the study. Six subjects identified themselves as having been raised in high functioning families of origin. High functioning is defined as a family that offers its members clear boundaries, nurturing, encouragement and discipline. Six other subjects were interviewed who identified themselves from low functioning families of origin and who have less than twelve months of recovery. Recovery was defined as regular attendance at meetings for Adult Children of Alcoholics or for Co-dependents. Two specific problems were explored. First, to articulate any possible relationship that may exist between the way subjects trust themselves and trust a significant other. Secondly, to cite any differences or similarities regarding the experience of trust by participants from low functioning families of origin and participants from high functioning families of origin. The study includes narrative profiles of interviews and common themes that were generated. Participants from both groups reported considerable difficulty in regard to offering themselves adequate encouragement, employing discriminate boundaries and integrating self-discipline. Participants from low functioning families also expressed dissatisfaction with their willingness and ability to nurture themselves. While participants self-identified from high functioning families reported satisfaction with their willingness and ability to nurture themselves. Participants from both groups reported dissatisfaction with encouragement received from a significant other when that other was a male spouse. Both groups also cited resistance regarding the employment of discriminate boundaries and initiating confrontation with their significant other when that other was a spouse. Participants from dysfunctional families reported feeling dissatisfied with the level of nurturance received from significant others when that other was a friend or a spouse. Participants from high functioning families reported feeling generally satisfied with the level of nurturance they received from significant others. Both groups expressed satisfaction with the level of mutual self-disclosure when the significant other was a friend. The study yielded several conclusions. Dysfunctional patterns of distrust were expressed by members of both groups. Potential for distrust appeared to increase with the likelihood of increased intimacy. In general, participants' experiences of dyadic trust reflected their experience of self-trust. Twelve-step meetings appeared to be a useful educational intervention for heightening consciousness regarding dysfunctional patterns of dyadic trust and self-trust.

This research focuses on household reproduction and its interrelationship with illness within the context of a rapidly monetizing semi-rural economy on the Peruvian altiplano. Reproduction, in this case, refers to the kind and quantity of income household members are able to generate through both subsistence agropastoral and cash-generating activities. Income is evaluated relative to the expenditures households must make to provide for their basic necessities and to continue as units of production and reproduction. Illness is approached as not only a symptom expressing the impact of stressors from the biotic and socioeconomic environment, but is also dealt with as a major factor affecting people's life circumstances. Special concern is with the manifestations of the interrelationship between reproduction and illness in households which are undergoing a process of "disintegration" where income is insufficient to meet the basic requirements necessary for household reproduction. The majority of information was drawn from a series of four interviews and short-term recalls carried out with a sample of 61 households representing four socioeconomic groups. Two of these groups were made up of households with moderate and relatively secure incomes. The other two were made up of low-income households who rely to a large degree on "informal", temporary, and low-paying wage labor jobs. At each income level there was a further breakdown between households who participated in agropastoral production and those who did not. The sample included both single female and male/female headed households. Income, consumption patterns, and health status were assessed for each income group, exhibiting significant degrees of differentiation. Overall health indicators showed levels of illness corresponding with income. Those appearing most vulnerable in terms of both their health and their economic circumstances were the low-income households who did not participate in subsistence agropastoral activities. Morbidity and mortality rates were higher and the impact of illness was greater. These households were most likely to be those headed by single women, the elderly, and/or those with chronic health problems. In many instances illness was shown to play a major role in instigating or exacerbating the process of disintegration.