No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Homelessness has increased in the United States over the last 15 years, but one of the most distressing trends has been the increase of homeless families. Current literature suggests that healthcare services for the homeless family may be fragmented and difficult to access. Rationale for this study was to gain understanding of homeless families, and therefore increase the effectiveness of nurses working with homeless families.This qualitative study used a Heideggerian hermaneutical phenomenological approach as the philisophical framework. A script of questions and information about the study was presented to mothers at a shelter in a group meeting. The researcher then contacted each mother to learn of the mother's desire regarding participation. Seven mothers participanted. Shelter residents were informed that they may refuse participation or withdraw from the study at any time without prejudice from the researcher. Audio-taped interviews will took place in a private vacant office at the shelter. The researcher transcribed the interviews, eliminating any information (names, cities, agencies, relatives, etc.) that could identify the participants. Transcribed interviews were analyzed for common themes identified by the mothers. Audio-tapes were destroyed after data analysis.Risks involved included possible discomfort as residents discuss issues in their past. Should a mother become emotionally distressed in the interview, the researcher was prepared to assist her to identify coping resources. i ne motners were also iniormeu that, in one unlikely event information was shared that may indicate child abuse, the researcher was required to report child abuse to the State of Indiana. Benefits included ability to express feelings in a confidential setting. A $20 item of jewelry or a household commodity was presented to participants as an honorarium after completion of the interview.The lived experience of being a homeless mother with a family can only be fully understood by the mother who has lived the experience. Six common themes were identified by the mothers who participated in this study. Lack of assistance from biological fathers, or "I can't count on him" was a contributing factor towards the mothers' circumstances. Experience of a recent traumatic event without sufficient coping skills or resources emerged as a second theme, and was described by the quote "I don't know what to do." The third theme regarding the mother's concern for meeting the needs of their children was summarized by the insight "And kid's time don't stop." The perception of ineffective or demeaning treatment by helping agencies or "They really didn't care for me" was the fourth theme. The difficulty of carrying on family life was described in the fifth theme as "Things that are hard". And finally, the sixth theme described the difficulty in finding a residence as the mothers were told by landlords repeatedly, "I really don't have anything right now."The conclusion from the study was that homeless mothers and their familys have many needs not yet met by healthcare and helping agencies. This population is overwhelmed by the stresssors they face, and principles of crisis intervention are not adequately used to assist them. At the same time, these mothers demonstrate a great deal of concern and determination to care for their children.Through this study, nurses can learn of the obstacles common to homeless mothers, and the strengths that assist homeless mothers to persist and meet the needs of their family. By better understanding homeless families, nurses can adopt a more comprehensive approach to address their healthcare needs. / School of Nursing

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

Traditional sociological analyses has suggested that urbanization leads to decreased family ties and contact. Previous studies, cited in this paper, have explored this phenomenon with varying results. This paper explores the correlation between distance and contact between married adults in Muncie, Indiana, and same and different sex parents. It is hypothesized that both telephone/letter and face to face contact will diminish as distance increases. A second hypothesis explored in this paper suggests that contact is sexually differentiated with mothers being contacted most frequently and fathers least.Analysis of these data shows relatively high levels of contact between married offspring and their parents. The hypotheses in this study were supported: both telephone/letter and face to face contact diminish with increases in distance and contact patterns are affected by the sex of the parent and offspring. Mothers and daughters have the most frequent contact, fathers and sons the least.

While the spring and summer months are typically the severe weather climatological peak for the East-Central United States, severe thunderstorms and deadly regional tornado outbreaks can occur during the cool season months (e.g., October-March). In an effort to better document and improve operational forecasting of these events, this study focuses on cool season severe thunderstorms in the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys during the 1995-2002 cool seasons.Most severe thunderstorm and tornado events in the East-Central United States during the cool season are characterized by a high frequency of wind reports compared to hail and tornado reports. All severe report classes (i.e. tornadoes, hail, and wind) displayed a frequency tendency to remain high in the late evening and overnight hours. Additionally, it was found that tornado occurrence typically came in the form of a tornado outbreak. Additionally, when tornadoes did occur, they were found to be statistically more intense than tornadoes outside of the EC region during the same period. It is also concluded tornadoes favor the southern half of the region, whereas hail and wind reports tend to favor the southern two thirds of the region. In examination of cool season supercell characteristics, supercells favors a west-southwest to east-northeast mean motion around 45 mph. The relationship of only 11 percent between the distances of supercell tornado paths to tornadic supercell paths is an operationally important discovery. Knowing on average, how long a cool season supercell tornado is on the ground with respect to the parent supercell can aid operational warning decisions. / Department of Geography

During the period 1918 to 1930 the National Education Association actively campaigned to convince the Congress of the United States that the nation needed a federal department of education. The purpose of this study was to determine, in view of historical evidence, what factors prevented the ascendancy of education to cabinet rank during the 1920's.The method employed in this study was historical analysis; i.e., the systematic investigation and interpretation of the data relevant to the problem under consideration. The writer relied heavily on primary source materials, especially manuscript collections and government documents. Other sources consulted included the publications of professional organizations, the periodical literature of the 1920's, and general works on American educational history.This report concentrated on four specific topics: (1) the work of the United States Bureau of Education prior to 1920, (2) the condition of American education at the termination of World War I, (3) the positions espoused by those individuals who either supported or opposed the cabinet movement, and (4) the reaction of Congress to the legislative proposals that advocated the creation of a separate department of education.A perusal of the literature written during the period 1918 to 1930 clearly indicated that opposition to a secretary of education came primarily from Catholic and Lutheran religious organizations, congressional figures who were imbued with the doctrine of states' rights, and key individuals in the Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover administrations. Moreover, the Republican Chief Executives of the decade opposed the elevation of education to cabinet status and used the power and prestige of the presidency to delay congressional consideration of the department of education bills.A second factor that contributed to the demise of the department of education movement in the 1920's was the general social climate of the decade. Nativist organizations, such as the Ku Klux Klan, were instrumental in the passage of such anti-parochial school legislation as the Oregon School Act of 1922. Parochial school officials, responding to a real or imagined threat to their educational system, resisted all reform measures that they considered inimical to religious instruction.Tradition also played a major role in the defeat of the portion of the American people, including the major spokesmen for the reform program itself, considered the realm of education to be a state and local, rather than federal, prerogative. Indeed, the opponents of the cabinet movement used with devastating effect the department of education campaign. During the 1920's a substantial argument that the reformers' platform, especially the federal aid clauses contained in the pre-1925 bills, represented a reversal of traditional education practices.In 1931 the National Advisory Committee on Education, an organization created by President Herbert Hoover to study the role of the federal government in the nation's educational affairs, submitted its report to the Congress. The Advisory Committee recommended that Congress establish a department of education, transfer to the department those federal agencies whose primary function involved the investigation and presentation of educational information, and deny all organizations engaged in educational endeavors the power to force compliance with federal acts. Congress, however, refused to heed the recommendations of the Committee.Immediately following President Richard Nixon's "State of the Union" message in 1970, which called for a reorganization of the executive branch of the national government, the National Education Association again appealed to Congress to grant education separate cabinet status. This action on the part of the NEA has reopened the question of whether or not the United States needs a federal department of education.