Divorce is a significant event in children's lives. The ability of school personnel to be helpful with children of divorce can be influenced by their attitudes and by other factors. This study described the attitudes towards divorce of elementary school personnel and examined the relationships among the personnel's attitudes, personality factors, and selected personal and professional variables. The sample was comprised of 212 elementary school personnel from a large metropolitan school district in Western Canada. Data were derived from subjects' responses to the Sixteen Personality Factor Scale and two instruments developed by the author to assess subjects' attitudes towards divorce and their personal and professional characteristics. Findings indicated that teachers perceive divorce as a socially acceptable phenomenon. They perceived that it is better for children to live in happy homes, divorced or intact, than in conflict-ridden intact homes, and that children of divorce benefit when their fathers are active in parenting. Nearly all respondents perceived the school as fulfilling an important role for children of divorce. Significant differences were found between high and low scoring groups on each attitudinal sub-scale when personality factors, personal variables, and professional variables were considered. The results of this study suggest that certain personal variables (age, marital status, religion, and years of teaching experience) were related to differences in attitudes. Most of the professional variables (perceptions of children's motivation and homework completion and perceptions of parents' concerns) accounted for differences in attitudes. Several personality factors (warmth, ego-strength, rebelliousness, self-sufficiency, and imagination for example) also were indicated to have particular relevance for the attitudes of elementary school personnel towards divorce.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/187589 |
| Date | January 1983 |
| Creators | DAVIES, DONALD GEORGE. |
| Publisher | The University of Arizona. |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. |
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