This study represented an original investigation of those factors which serve to facilitate and impede the amount parents participate on behalf of their children enrolled for treatment in specialized children's mental health programs located in the State of Florida. Factors that were considered include: (1) individual and social background characteristics of parents, their children, and child-care workers; (2) individual worker and parent perceptions of the participation situation; and (3) the extent to which these were in agreement. The literature on organization-client relations provided the theoretical context for the study. Key concepts utilized include: participation, involvement, and consensus. The amount that parents participate in their children's treatment was posited to relate to the consensual nature of worker-parent involvement. The degree of consensus between them was based on the extent to which their perceptions were in agreement with respect to reasons for parental participation, sources of the child's problem(s), patterns for appropriate parental participation, means used to obtain this participation, and an understanding between them in relation to why and how parents generally participate. / The data were gathered by means of a cross-sectional survey of parents and their child-care workers from programs representing preschool, school/latency, and adolescent age children. A total of 130 parents and their child-care workers, representing 13 different agencies from nine of Florida's 11 Health and Rehabilitative Service Districts completed self-administered questionnaires in the presence of the author. / Four major research questions inquired as to whether mean percentage of kept appointments by parents of all levels of children's age would be associated significantly with: (1) certain individual and social background characteristics of parents, their children, and child-care workers; (2) certain worker and parent perceptions of and expectations for the parents' participation; (3) the degree of agreement (or consensus) between these perceptions and expectations and, (4) the extent to which the significant dimensions of worker-parent consensus would be conditioned by significant individual characteristics and perceptions of the study's target populations. / The results of data analysis indicated that most of the significant relationships occurred at the preschool level. Generally, the findings suggested that individual characteristics, perceptions, and agreement on these provide additional information for understanding parental participation. The amount parents participated on behalf of preschool age children was associated with the consensual nature of worker-parent relations. This in turn was contingent on not only the inclusion of certain individual characteristics related to the problem for which the child was referred but on the individual perceptions of workers and parents, and agreement between these in relation to why and how parents participate. Discussion centered around agency-worker versus parent responsibility for the matching of agency services with client needs. A negotiated approach to parent participation was suggested. It was recommended that future research verify or explore further for important attributes of the worker-parent relationship that relate to parental participation behaviors. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-08, Section: A, page: 3725. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_74259 |
| Contributors | FOSTER, LARRY WAYNE., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 299 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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