This is a descriptive study of the community process by which a complaint is made to a protective service agency. It is by this process that deviant child care is first identified and the decision to take action is made. The study develops a typology of the complaint process and identifies seven elements as significant in complaints that reach community agencies. The elements were: the complaint situation, the precipitating events that brought the complaint situation to the attention of someone outside the nuclear family, the relationship between the complainant and family, the complainant's motivation for responding to the complaint situation, the complainant's justification for making the complaint, the social support for making the complaint sought and received by the complainant, and the complainant's knowledge of an established channel of communication for making the complaint. Essentially the question asked was who complains about what to whom and why. Data were obtained from questionnaires representing l01 complaints about ninety-six families. These questionnaires were completed with information from the Women's Protective Division of the Portland Police Bureau, the Multnomah County Juvenile Court, and the Multnomah County Public Welfare Commission on complaints received primarily during a one month period. Statistical analyses consisted of computer cross tabulations of the study variables. Two - thirds of the complainants were from the private sector of the community while one-third were agency personnel. Private individuals usually knew of the complaint situation through first hand observation over a period of time. A vast majority of the relatives and one -fourth of the non-relatives who complained had cared for the children in the past. Although only one - fourth of the complainants actually suggested an investigation, three - fourths of the referrals were accepted for service and investigated. It was found that all of the complaint situations could be classified as neglect, abuse, or inadequate supervision. Abuse situations were rated highly serious for the child(ren) involved while inadequate supervision situations were rated least serious. In half of the situations reported a breakdown in or a lack of a child care arrangement led to the complaint, usually of inadequate supervision. The data suggested that a primary element of a successful complaint process is social confirmation and support, especially in situations of neglect which were the most difficult for complainants to evaluate. Motivations for complaints fell into three categories: concern for the child, self concern, and mixed concern. Child concern was most prevalent in situations determined to be highly serious. A universal characteristic was the complainant's need to legitimize the complaint through discrediting the parents involved-- "discrediting information" is defined as information which was negative and unrelated to the complaint situation. Strong evidence of discrediting information, however, was associated with neglect rather than with either abuse or inadequate supervision. The evidence converged on a typology of the complaint process in which each different complaint situation involved a different profile of the complaint process. The essential element of a successful abuse complaint was a highly serious situation; for a successful neglect complaint it was the presentation of discrediting information; and for a complaint of inadequate supervision it was the lack of a child care arrangement. Knowledge of the complainant's early diagnosis and motivation for action is essential to the building of a system that will facilitate the reporting of neglect and abuse.

There exist a number of factors which operate as potentially significant determinants of the distributional impact of the property tax within any specific urban or metropolitan area. This study is an attempt to explain the income distribution effects of one factor – the property tax reappraisal lag. The study is limited mainly to the impact of the lag on owners of single-family housing. An income distribution problem arises because each property subject to the property tax is reappraised only every five or six years. Each Oregon county is divided into five or six maintenance districts to facilitate reappraisal. For example, Multnomah County, which is the subject area of the thesis text, currently has five maintenance districts. All properties in one maintenance district are reappraised each year. Insofar as property values, as well as the income of the owners of these properties, experience differential movements during the five-year period in which the original appraisal is maintained on the assessment rolls, the reappraisal lag redistributes the property tax burden within the area. The hypothesis presented here is that the property tax reappraisal lag operates to increase the burden of the property tax on owners of lower-value single-family housing, while at the same time diminishing the burden of the tax on owners of higher-value single-family housing. In order to test this hypothesis, a sample was drawn from single-family housing sales data maintained by the Sales Ratio Division of the Multnomah County Assessors’ Office. Multnomah County maintains computerized records of all property transfers occurring within Multnomah County. Through the use of simple and multiple regression analysis, it was possible to examine the following questions: (1) what factors produce the initial assessment level pattern in Multnomah County; (2) how does the reappraisal lag affect the initial assessment pattern; and (3) what are the distribution effects of the initial assessment level and the reappraisal lag pattern. The results of the study strongly support the hypothesis. Within Multnomah County the reappraisal lag operates to redistribute approximately $1,200,000 per year from owners of lower-value to owners of higher-value single-family housing, significantly increasing tax burdens on lower-income groups. The redistribution of tax burdens is complicated by the relationship between business and residential property. If redistribution occurs only within the single-family housing property class, owners of housing valued below approximately $14,605 would experience a decline in tax burden, while owners of housing valued above this amount would experience an increase in tax burden. If redistribution results in a lower tax rate for business property, the cross-over point mentioned above would decline to approximately $10,260. At the same time, because of the tax rate decline effect, there would be a net shift of tax burden roughly equal to $2.8 million per year from business to residential property.

Child abuse is a significant contemporary community problem. Child abuse authorities are divided over the question of whether public intervention in the child abuse problem should be executed by law enforcement or social services agencies. Many jurisdictions, such as Multnomah County, Oregon, reflect this basic disagreement by authorizing the involvement of both of these agencies. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is a relationship between what happens to child abuse victims, their families, and the perpetrators and the community agency - law enforcement or social services (the Children's Services Division)-which investigated the case. Data were collected from the population of child abuse reports originating from Multnomah County between September, 1975 and January, 1977. These data included:(1) the pertinent demographic characteristics of the study population; (2) the community sources that reported the suspected abuse; (3) the agencies that received and investigated those reports; and (4) the disposition of the cases. In order to test the study hypothesis, the investigating agency was related to the disposition of the child abuse cases. The study data indicated that the disposition of reported child abuse was related to the agency which investigated the cases. Specifically, the cases investigated by a law enforcement agency compared with the Children's Services Division were more likely to result in the removal of the victims from their home. In contrast, social service referrals for their families and community action directed to the perpetrators were more likely when the cases were investigated by the Children's Services Division compared to a law enforcement agency. When the cases were investigated jointly by the Children's Services Division and a law enforcement agency, the abuse victims were most likely to be separated from their families, the families were most likely to be referred for social services, and community action was most likely to be directed to the perpetrators. Since disposition may be directly related to characteristics of the study population, the relationship between disposition and investigating agency was controlled for these characteristics. The controlled analysis of the data generally confirmed the findings of the study, but revealed that (1) disposition was directly associated with certain characteristics of the population and (2) the relationship between disposition and investigating agency was modified by several characteristics. These findings, however, are largely harmonized to the general study findings when interpreted in light of the structure of the community's child abuse "system" and the interrelationships among the characteristics of the population. The study findings lead to the conclusion that a choice of agencies to investigate child abuse reports results in differential, and perhaps unequal treatment of child abuse victims, their families and the perpetrators.

The effect of contiguous forested habitat area on local avian diversity and species richness in the Tualatin Mountain area of northwestern Oregon was investigated. Observations of eight forested stands representing seven area values (1, 2, 7, 14, 18, 24 and 40 hectares) were made during the spring and summer of 1991 and 1992. The variables measured were chosen in an attempt to show possible relationships between vegetation factors, spatial patterns and bird communities. Kendall's rank correlation coefficients were used to analyze the data. Avian species richness and diversity were significantly correlated with forest stand (patch) size. The only significant correlation between avian species richness and diversity and vegetation measures was with percent shrub layer cover. It seems likely that avian diversity and richness are increased due to the presence of species that can utilize the interior and edges of forest stands along with species which depend upon true forested interior. When forested patch size drops below a critical area, the patch becomes all edge. Interior species are absent due to increased predation and the inability to compete with interior-edge species. Edge effect may be a contributing factor to variation in diversity of birds. The correlation of percent shrub layer cover with avian measures is accompanied by a correlation of percent shrub layer cover with distance from edge. This suggests further investigation is required to assess this relationship. Studies conducted in the northeastern and north central United States have shown a similar relationship between bird communities and forest patch size.

This thesis evaluates the hydraulic relationship between the Blue Lake gravel aquifer, the Columbia River, and Blue Lake. Hydrogeology, water levels, and stable isotopes were used to establish these hydraulic relationships.

Determination of the vertical and horizontal groundwater hydraulic gradient within a landfill is the first step in determining the potential of groundwater contamination from the landfill leachate. The length of a study and the frequency at which measurements are recorded can greatly affect the description of the local groundwater environment. A more comprehensive analysis can be preformed for longer periods of study and greater measurement frequency. The intent of this study was to install a continuous groundwater level monitoring system around the st. Johns Landfill for a minimum study length of one year. This would allow a more thorough study of the seasonal character and behavior of the groundwater system beneath the landfill than in previous studies. Particular interest was paid to groundwater level changes resulting from seasonal weather changes. Additional attention was paid to other forcing mechanisms which could be perturbing groundwater levels, and variations in the geochemical groundwater constituents. Included throughout this report is a literature review of various studies pertinent to the analysis of groundwater level variations. Seasonal variations in vertical groundwater hydraulic gradients were reviewed and time averaged vertical seepage rates were estimated. Areal plots of groundwater levels were used to view expected horizontal groundwater hydraulic gradients during seasonal maximum and minimum groundwater levels. A computer model was developed to study the effects temporal variations in slough water levels had on groundwater seepage rates through the perimeter dike separating the landfill from the sloughs. The modeling provided an estimate of the average horizontal leachate seepage rate into the sloughs. Comparison plots of monitoring well groundwater levels were used to analyze potential swash zones beneath the landfill and potential effects of lowered water levels in Bybee Lake. Spectral analysis techniques were imployed to determine the dominant frequencies observed in the groundwater levels, allowing determination of the type of forcing mechanism driving the fluctuations. Geochemical groundwater constituents were statistically analyzed to determine the significance of observed trends in the data: areal plots of chloride concentrations and electrical conductivity were made to view constituent distributions within the underlying aquifers. Estimated vertical and horizontal groundwater seepage rates into the local waters showed that horizontal leachate seepage is insignificant compared to vertical leachate seepage. Groundwater level comparison plots indicated no significant swashing beneath the landfill occurred. The statistical studies on groundwater forcing mechanisms indicated that either the slough or the Columbia River water levels could be perturbing groundwater levels. Trend analyses on the geochemical groundwater constituents indicated significant, positive trends in chloride concentrations, and undeterminable trends in electrical conductivity.

"Hidden Hills" is a secure, isolated enclave of 550 homes, with a long history of political and economic power wielded, in some cases, by families who have lived there for generations. This neighborhood serves as the bedroom for many of Portland's wealthy and well-known and has housed many of Oregon's-leading figures. It is faced with SB 917, a 1991 mandate to merge its only formal social institution, its 104-year-old school district, with one of two contiguous districts. Merger will not mean the immediate closure of the school, but will mean the loss of local administrative and political control and changes in the delivery of education and the arrangement of staff and students. The school will be run by another district in another community. This eighteen-month field study was undertaken in order to answer the questions: (a) How do neighborhood residents define this situation, and (b) What strategies will they devise to cope with the situation. I entered the community as a marginal participant and full observer. "Marginal" because, although I was the official recorder for both the school board's Consolidation Task Force (CTF) and High School Option Committee, I attended numerous other school and community meetings as a full spectator. I also conducted both formal and informal interviews and conversed casually with residents at every opportunity. Sources of secondary data were the 1990 Decennial Census: Multnomah County Elections Office: Oregon Department of Education; Oregon Historical Society Library; City of Portland Urban Services; Hidden Hills School District; and Multnomah County's Tax Supervising and Conservation Commission. The mandate to merge posed a threat to the neighborhood. The school is valued both for its educative and non-educative functions. It is a symbol of the neighborhood's integrity, part of which is its long history and body of tradition. It stands as testimony to the neighborhood's distinctiveness, which partially inheres in the institutionalization and the privatization of its school. It is the school that residents feel distinguishes this affluent neighborhood from other such neighborhoods. Its social cohesiveness and small-town atmosphere is perceived by residents as unique. There is a symbiosis between the school and the neighborhood that makes any threat to the school a threat to the neighborhood's identity. The rational response was mounted by the CTF, whose progress was halted at the point where neighborhood input was necessary but not forthcoming, due to what members perceived as denial. But residents were articulating a form of anticipatory grieving in the recurring reference to loss loss of identity, loss of local control, loss of the neighborhood school, and loss of academic excellence and small class-size. There was organized apathy among residents while they assimilated the fact that things this time were different. Initial impulses to make the old, formerly effective, forays "down to Salem" weren't working to gain exemption from the grip of the new law. It was time to form new lines of action based on a new definition of the situation. The CTF redefined the situation and did its work by identifying five options to consolidation. Residents were then brought together at neighborhood coffees where their subjective realities were negotiated within the constraints of the objective reality of the consolidation mandate. During these negotiations an intersubjective reality was realized where all residents, while having their own subjective meanings of the threat to the school and the neighborhood, were still able to articulate the objective fact that this was a threat to a core structure of meaning. Core values, beliefs, identity, and assumptions were brought into relief as residents re-defined the situation and discussed strategies to cope as a neighborhood, rather than as individuals. The CTF was given much-needed direction from neighbors.

The objectives of this study were to provide a comprehensive review of the risks and benefits of using adulticides to reduce risk of mosquito-borne disease (particularly West Nile Virus) transmission to humans, as well as to decrease annoyance from nuisance mosquitoes. The study was designed with two major research components, including: 1) an extensive literature review to determine the efficacy of adulticide use, the adverse effects of adulticide use, the impact of mosquitoes on community livability, and the risks and benefits of pesticide use in controlling mosquitoes; and 2) interviews with selected vector districts in seven states to determine effective and ineffective practices in mosquito management. This study has demonstrated that an integrated mosquito management program may be beneficial in reducing risk of disease transmission and mosquito annoyance when performed appropriately. The contribution of adulticiding to reducing mosquito-borne disease transmission, however, is unknown. Research is needed to: 1) further assess the ecological and human impacts of adulticides using the dose and exposure rates realistic to an adulticide program; 2) gain an understanding of the human and ecological impacts of aggregate and cumulative exposures to pesticides, especially for special populations, such as children; and 3) determine the contribution of adulticiding in interrupting or reducing the enzootic amplification of arboviruses, as well as the transmission of WNV to humans. / Graduation date: 2004

The purpose of this project was to explore the coping patterns of people denied public assistance. The primary focus was on resources available and used by those denied to assist them in the situation that led them to apply for public assistance in the first place. A review of the literature revealed that very little is known concerning those denied public assistance. This project is one of the first to study the problem of how those denied manage after denial. The data for this project was gathered by the use of an interview schedule administered in personal interviews with those in the sample. The data was then analyzed using frequency distributions and percentage compositions. When appropriate, chi square statistics were computed. The major finding of this exploratory study is that those denied public assistance have-very few resources available to them to assist them in their coping patterns. Frequently those denied become eligible very soon after initial denial. Very few seek help elsewhere after denial although most of those who do receive helpful assistance. Implications are that more referrals by the intake staff at the public welfare agency would lead to more of those denied receiving helpful assistance elsewhere. Because this project is one of the first to study those denied public assistance, the findings are limited by the fact that there are no previous research findings available for comparison. Another limitation is that only one quarter of the original sample could be contacted. Because of these limitations, more research in the area is indicated. Suggestions are made for future research.

This is an exploratory study which focuses on the types of information that deputies assigned to the Department of Public Safety, Multnomah County, Oregon, consider important when making a decision regarding the disposition of a juvenile offender. This empirical study developed as a result of participant observation. The authors spent one year working with deputies as part of police-social worker teams. During the course of the year it became apparent that police use a considerable amount of discretion when determining the disposition of a juvenile offender. The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate systematically: the types of information that deputies believed play the most significant role in the decision-making process in general, the types of information that deputies used when determining which disposition to apply toward a juvenile charged with a particular offense, the personal and occupational characteristics of the individual deputy that might have had a bearing on the dispositions he applied toward a juvenile, if there was agreement between the types of information deputies generally believed were important to disposition of cases and the types of information deputies actually utilized when making a decision in particular cases, if there was agreement among officers with respect to the disposition of a juvenile in particular cases, and the relationship among types of information deputies believed were important in particular cases, the dispositions they applied toward juveniles in that case and the nature of the case presented.