<p> The use of social technologies continues to grow at a rapid pace. Such technologies free individuals to communicate with one another in a multitude of ways without the need to be face-to-face in the same room This study was designed to explore, based on a small sample of case studies, the usefulness of one way that social technology is employed today, collaborative email letter writing (CELW), when used in conjunction with live therapy sessions to counsel a self-injuring population. Currently, most email counseling consists of exchanging communications without live clinical intervention (Heinlein, Welfel, Richmond, &amp; Rack, 2003). While self-injury behavior (SIB) is on the rise (Conterio &amp; Lader, 1998; Zila &amp; Kiselica, 2001), there is little evidence that shows that either traditional or systemic postmodern therapies are useful in treating SIB in adolescents or young adults. Alternative forms of communication, such as letter writing (Freedman &amp; Combs, 1996; White, 1995; White &amp; Epston, 1990), have proven to benefit a variety of clients who have a difficult time expressing emotions in live therapy sessions. However, research studies on CELW as an ongoing therapeutic technique with clients are extremely limited. To address this gap, I conducted a qualitative case study on a small sample of clients in which I explored how CELW could be used with certain clients. Considering the in-depth understanding of the therapeutic participant-observer, therapist CELW, client CELW, and the researcher's experience, I sought to establish the meanings of multiple perspectives for analysis of this underused therapeutic technique. I used a cross-case analysis of three individual cases to provide both an in-depth understanding of the similarities and differences across three case studies, and to understand how clinicians might incorporate this additional resource into their clinical practices.</p>

<p> This study examined the experiences of bilingual parents who have a child with a disability, during two points in the special education process, eligibility and IEP. This study was designed to interpret parents&rsquo; experiences using Ecological Systems Theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) and Social Dominance Theory (Sidanius &amp; Pratto, 1999) in order to draw conclusions as to if parents provide informed consent. </p><p> The population included nine parents of students with disabilities. The parents all identified as Hispanic, native Spanish speakers, and as a primary caretaker of the child with a disability. Basic qualitative research (Merriam, 2009) was conducted, and study data was collected by a semi-structured interview protocol. The interviews were conducted by the researcher, or a qualified Spanish speaker if needed. Data was transcribed, and analyzed using qualitative analysis to determine emerging themes. </p><p> The study&rsquo;s results provided evidence on parents&rsquo; perceptions on the special education process impact their provision to provide informed consent. Parents perceived they were involved in the special education process, they used relationships with others to find support in the special education process, and they perceived barriers to participating in the special education process. Analysis of these findings on parental perceptions during the IEP process reveal that bilingual parents are not providing informed consent. Recommendations that can be implemented at a teacher, school, or policy level are made.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to ascertain the various factors that influenced these first-generation college women as they chose a college and selected a STEM major and subsequently persisted to upper level (junior/senior) status. Twenty-five first-generation college women in STEM majors who attended a research-intensive university in the Midwest were interviewed. Approaching this study using constructivist grounded theory provided the opportunity for deeper insights by examining data at a conceptual level while preserving the voices of the women in this study. The women faced numerous challenges on their journeys, yet they persisted. As the women in this study selected and persisted in STEM, they demonstrated thoughtful determination, experienced shifting identities, established purposeful relationships and applied forward thinking, as they practiced high-stakes decision-making during their journeys. The experiences of these women, namely first-generation women in STEM fields, may inform students, parents, educators, researchers, and policymakers concerned with (a) inspiring students to consider STEM majors, (b) fostering student success in STEM throughout their academic journeys, and (c) ultimately increasing the number of underrepresented minorities and women in the STEM fields.</p>

<p> This qualitative, phenomenological study explores the lived experience of White, American, middle-class international adoptive mothers. This project excavates the emotional, psychological and cultural sequelae of the international adoptive mother&rsquo;s matrescence, her process of becoming a mother from the earliest stirrings of maternal desire to a mature adoptive motherhood 20 years later. Western culture hosts a predilection for myths with regard to motherhood, family and adoption and a tendency toward an idealization of them all. However, contrary to the popular myth that women who adopt internationally do so out of a motivation to rescue abandoned children, my findings reveal that their motivation mirrors that of traditional mothers&mdash;a natural desire to mother a child. Furthermore, the study reveals that what begins with a desire for motherhood becomes an unexpectedly multi-layered, multicultural and transformative pilgrimage of individuation&mdash;the feminine embodiment of Campbell&rsquo;s monomyth. Data was acquired through in-depth interviews with 13 adoptive mothers from 7 of the United States with adopted children from 10 countries. Two methodologies were used: narrative inquiry to capture the lived experience of these mothers and portraiture to convey the findings in a creative and accessible way. Narrative themes are explored through a depth psychological lens. Emergent themes include marginalization, loss and joy, blood and belonging, genetic immunity, colorblindness, special needs advocacy, tenacity and intention, awareness of White privilege, and embracing the child&rsquo;s original family and country.</p><p> Keywords: international adoption, adoptive motherhood, hero&rsquo;s journey, matrescence.</p>

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Farrell J. Webb / The current study was focused on the role Black grandmothers played in biraical (Black and White) racial socialization process of their grandchild or grandchildren. Racial socialization process where by the grandmothers engaged in a systemtic and deliberate attempt to ensure that their grandchildren develp an awareness and sensibilty toward their Black hertiage. There were several criteria the grandmothers had to meet. They included being born before 1975, ensuring that the grandmothers expereienced the post 70s Black pride movement. The grandmother also needed to have contact with the identified grandchild. Qualitative methods with a phenomenological lens were employed. The Black grandmothers are seen as the experts on their experiences, thus phenomenology allowed me to probe deeper into the experiences of these grandmothers and their reality. One-on-one interviews were conducted with the participants at the location and time of their choice. The results revealed the perspective and methods they exercised in racially socializing their biracial grandchildren. The participants had similar beliefs as it related to what their role in the racial socialization process was supposed to be. There were eight primary themes that emerged were community influence, spirituality, social adjustment, feelings toward “the other”, social perception, cultural indoctrination, grandma’s burden, and the road ahead. Although, each grandmother had a different journey their conclusions regarding the way to socialize their biracial grandchildren as Black was unanimous.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Walter Schumm and Kristy Archuleta / Financial literacy has become a prominent topic of discussion since the latest economic downturn. Although many studies reveal that our youth’s financial literacy is low, no study to date provides an overview as to how our youth are learning financial literacy concepts. This dissertation seeks to explore how homeschooling families prepare their children to be financially literate. This study reviewed four sensitizing concepts: (a) communication, (b) engagement, (c) outside influences, and (d) parental perspectives based on the learning theory: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Twenty primary educators in homeschooling families from a variety of states were interviewed for this study. Out of the twenty participants, eight were classified in the elementary age group, five were classified in the middle school age, and seven were classified in the high school age. Each sensitizing concept was examined for each school age group. This exploratory study found that parents who homeschool tend to focus on three main topics of personal finance: debt or the avoidance of debt, savings, and budgeting. Little evidence suggests that parents help their children with the mechanics of these behaviors. There were three important findings extracted in this study. First, the results suggest that homeschooling parents need to become better prepared to teach their children about money, and second, that personal finance should be thought of as a core subject in the elementary age years in lieu of just a life skill. Finally, this study found that there is a large focus around personal finance topics in the elementary age years and the high school years, with little attention to personal finance behaviors for the middle school age group. The results of this study provide those entities that advocate improved financial literacy an understanding as to the “how” parents who homeschool prepare their kids to understand money.

<p> Foster youth in the United States who transition out of care have a difficult time transitioning into the world independently. In addition to emerging into adulthood the youth who are parenting during their transition are faced with even more significant barriers. As an attempt to guide those adolescent mothers transitioning out of care this curriculum is a tool to enhance their parenting skills, coping skills, and to increase their ability to overcome barriers as they transpire into the world of adulthood as parents. This curriculum will offer psychoeducation covering topics such as; stress management, coping, and parenting styles to assist in fulfilling adolescent mothers transitioning out of care to reach their full potential as individuals and as an adolescent mother. This curriculum will also include personal assessments, role-playing scenarios and other exercises for the participants to use to practice the concepts learned.</p>

<p> Offering the first sustained critical analysis of the cultural interaction between melodramas of the nurturing fatherhood and the emergent ideology of neoliberalism, my dissertation explores the representation of white middle-class fathers in late-twentieth-century American literature and movies. </p><p> The nurturing father is a poster child of neoliberalism: he is represented as an entrepreneur who individually manages his time and skills; taking care of kids is represented not as a tiresome drudgery but as a part of a white middle-class father&rsquo;s self-investment which enhances his (children&rsquo;s) human capital. The nurturing father&rsquo;s pain and suffering are instrumental in understanding the cultural interaction between neoliberalism and melodrama. Echoing the anxiety that special rights given to groups are violating white middle-class men&rsquo;s rights as individuals, the melodrama of the nurturing father implicitly contests the law&rsquo;s protection of mothers as a gendered group and its intervention into private issues. Furthermore, the nurturing father is almost always represented as white middle-class with African American and/or working-class deadbeat fathers serving as counterpoints. By critically examining the significance of the freedom and self-government the white middle-class nurturing father embodies, this dissertation discusses how the melodrama of the nurturing father evokes and eases anxiety about a fatherless society. </p><p> While traditionally the American family&rsquo;s morality was predicated on the mother&rsquo;s sentimental and religious power to secure home as the place of comfort, an oasis from the ravages of capitalism, morality and innocence in the age of neoliberalism are marked by the father&rsquo;s choice to nurture human capital and become an independent subject in the market economy. Untangling the intertwined relationship between home and the world, this dissertation analyzes the significance of nurturing fatherhood as a lifestyle choice and traces the contested negotiation between production and reproduction in the age of neoliberalism.</p><p>

<p> Acute and/or complex trauma exposure during the vulnerable, critical developmental period of childhood places children at greater risks for developing emotional, psychological, behavioral difficulties. Currently, 60 % of children experience between one to four traumatic events and 25% of these children develop trauma symptoms consistent within full or partial PTSD diagnostic criteria. The greater the number of multiple and/or chronic traumatic experiences, especially within the caregiver system, the greater the risks for significant impairment, trauma symptoms and developmental difficulties. Utilizing Attachment Theory and Trauma Theory, this quantitative study explored the relationship between parent self-reported, child trauma (PTSD) symptoms, child trauma exposure, parental trauma exposure in childhood, parent burnout, parental attachment to their child, parent spirituality and parent PTSD trauma symptoms. Secondary, archival data was collected from a convenience sample including thirty-three parents/caregivers from a clinic population in the southeastern United States. The exploratory, quantitative research study focused on identifying potential systemic risks and resiliency factors that may serve to mediate child trauma (PTSD) symptoms. The results indicated potential risks factors of child trauma (PTSD) symptoms included both the number and specific types of parental adverse childhood experiences. In addition, the number of child trauma experiences predicted child trauma (PTSD) symptomology, while high parental attachment, low parent burnout and high spirituality served as potential systemic resiliency factors. Parent trauma (PTSD) symptoms and parent spirituality were not found to predict child trauma (PTSD) symptomology following child trauma exposure. This exploratory research study does not imply causality but highlights additional systemic, family assessment avenues for further research for decreasing the negative impact of child trauma (PTSD) exposure.</p><p>

<p> Asian family businesses comprise the vast majority of economic activity in the Asian region. Therefore, their smooth functioning is of both economic and societal importance. However, little research has been done on how to assess, let alone therapeutically treat, Asian business families. Due to the overlap of family systems and business systems, Asian business families face complex and unique challenges. Family members play multiple roles in both the family and business. Value systems and decision processes between the two systems may vary significantly. Boundaries between the family system and business system are often blurred. Using a hermeneutic methodological approach to research and synthesizing across the limited Asian family systems and business family systems research, the thesis develops an assessment methodology and instrument that allow practitioners to identify issues specific to Asian business families that may arise in therapy.</p><p>