Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Developmental Tasks Of Older People: Implications For Group Work Practice, Mitchell Alan Lang

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study is to explore the ways in which a developmental approach to personality change can be applied to the later years in life. Chapter II is a brief introduction to the concept of development and its relation to aging. Chapter III contains a literature review of existing developmental theories of aging plus those theories which I feel can be integrated into a psychosocial developmental model. Chapter IV, a description of group work techniques with older people based on the developmental task approach, contains my own ideas for group practice. My primary intention throughout the paper is …

A Comparative Study Of Communication Style In Japan And The United States As Revealed Through Content Analysis Of Television Commercials, Noriko Huruse

Dissertations and Theses

This study is an empirical analysis of communication styles in Japan and the United States. In particular, the study deals with communication styles in Japanese and American television commercials as a reflection of human communication styles in the two countries.

The Effects Of A Child's Serious Illness Upon His Or Her Siblings, Kathleen Bales

Dissertations and Theses

In an effort to prevent serious psychological damage to individuals and families due to illness or disability, professionals in the health field have studied every aspect of one's health. From the "traumatic violence" of birth to the painful complexities of death and dying, the emotional health of human beings has been observed, recorded and analysed. Despite the breadth of this voluminous research, one area of interest merits more thorough study and evaluation. In order to more fully understand the intricacies of health and illness we need to know more about the effect one seriously ill child has upon the emotional …

Assessment Of The Needs Of The Families Of The Hospitalized Mentally Ill, Jean Pelosi Audette, Phyllis J. Jossy

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to assess the special needs of the families of hospitalized mental patients. The study focused upon the time prior to and including the decision to hospitalize a mentally ill family member. Particularly, the researchers wished to examine the stresses that the family encountered in attempting to deal with a disturbed member as well as their concerns regarding psychiatric hospitalization and the effect which it had upon the family.

A Descriptive Study Of Social Service Needs And Demographic Characteristics Of Selected Emergency Room Patients, Anne K. Parker

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study is to gain information about the social service needs and demographic characteristics of patients admitted to Providence Hospital's emergency room during the hours a social worker is not available. The emergency room staff requested the information in order to utilize it in planning emergency room services.

A Research Project On The Developmentally Disabled Adult, Randi Lynn Hillinger

Dissertations and Theses

No comprehensive data base concerning the adult developmentally disabled (ADD) population is available. The absence of theoretical formulations about aging, and particularly the aging ADD, make it difficult for service providers or professionals to incorporate a conceptual framework into their work.

An Exploratory Study Into The Financial Situations Of Elderly Wards Of The Public Guardian And Conservator Of Multnomah County, Ruth D. Hudson

Dissertations and Theses

It has been the practice of the Public Guardian and Conservator (PG and C*) of Multnomah County to collect fees for service to elderly wards on an annual basis usually at the time of the annual accounting. The purpose of this study is to determine the profitability of deferring the assessment and collection of fees until the termination of conservatorship. The assumption is that such a policy would provide an immediate benefit to the ward who would enjoy more spendable income while he is alive and at the same time the Public Guardian and Conservator could still collect his fee, …

A Comparative Study Of Perceptual Ratings And Fundamental Frequency In Female And Male Esophageal Voices, Anne Terese Heinrich

Dissertations and Theses

This study proposed to determine if male and female esophageal voices were rated in the same manner by naïve listeners. Answers to the following questions were sought:

1. Is there a difference in the social acceptability ratings given to female esophageal voices compared to male esophageal voices, when the speakers are matched for speaking ability?
2. Does a relationship exist between the fundamental frequencies of female esophageal voices and ratings of social acceptability given by naïve listeners?
3. Does a relationship exist between the fundamental frequencies of male esophageal voices and ratings of social acceptability given by naïve listeners?
4. Do male and female …

The History Of Mutual Support Organizations Among The Chinese In Portland, Oregon, Scott Manchester

Dissertations and Theses

The thesis is an examination of the history of the Chinese community in Portland, Oregon, with special emphasis on the mutual support organizations developed by this community.

The study is primarily descriptive in nature. It includes background information on social, economic, and political conditions in China in the nineteenth century; an account of the history of the Chinese and Chinese organizations in Portland, and an examination of the issues involved in providing social services to Asian communities.

Sources of data include scholarly research, historical records and manuscripts, newspaper articles, and interviews with nineteen members of the Chinese community.

The thesis …

An Exploration Into The Field Of Hospital Social Work, Timothy D. Haley

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this project is to explore the field of hospital social work to see what, if any frustrations, problem areas, and/or dissatisfactions exist among those who work in this profession. In order to accomplish this task of exploration, the project is composed of three parts. The first segment is the literature review (Chapter II). It is divided into a brief history of hospital social work and other studies that have been done on hospital social workers. It is hoped that the combination of both of these components will reflect the struggles, strengths, and problems of the profession, therefore …

A Descriptive Study Of The Relationship Between Age And Problems Expressed By Women Seeking Out-Patient Mental Health Services, Linda M. Rodgers, Joyce Carey

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study is to provide a descriptive analysis of the problems presented by a specific group of women seeking out-patient mental health treatment and to relate these problems to the ontogenetic (age-related) developmental issues presented in a study of the literature. The researcher's involvement in this area developed from interest in current literature on adult development, and a personal commitment to life-long growth and acceptance of the inherent changes. In order to investigate whether developmental issues exist for this group of women, and if so to describe them, two distinct age groups--the decades of the 20's and …

An Analysis Of The Relationship Between Personality Characteristics Of Social Work Students And Choice Of Social Work Practice Area, Linda A. Yegge, Francie E. Buktenica

Dissertations and Theses

Due to curiosity about the "individual" vs. "social" intervention argument in the profession of social work, the authors of this study attempted to answer the question, “Do personality characteristics of Social Work Graduate Students influence their choice of social work practice?" Our hypothesis was that Introverts would be more inclined to focus on the individual in social work practice as opposed to Extraverts who would see societal change as a more pressing practice issue. Although our study identified no correlation between Introversion and Extraversion and social work practice orientation, there were some suggestions for further study. There appeared to be …

An Analysis Of Sex Role Bias In Clinician's Evaluations Of Client Behavior, Shari Paula Greenberg

Dissertations and Theses

This study investigated the effects of sex differences on clinical judgements. It was hypothesized that: l) clinicians will respond differently to aggressive, self-assertive, or dependent behavior, depending upon whether this behavior was performed by a man or a woman; 2) clinicians will have different treatment goals for a man and a woman who behaved in the same manner; 3) clinicians will describe the client engaged in aggressive, self-assertive, or dependent behavior differently, depending on the sex of the client; 4) clinicians will have different feelings towards men and women behaving in exactly the: same manner, and; 5) clinicians will rate …

A Consumer Evaluation Of The Clackamas County Family Court Service, Barbara E. Lee, Patricia E. Watne

Dissertations and Theses

This report describes a consumer evaluation study of the Clackamas County Family Court Service, a court-connected marriage and divorce counseling agency near Portland, Oregon.

A questionnaire was mailed to 168 individuals who had participated in counseling at the agency between November 1, 1976, and November 1, 1977. The questionnaire focused on former clients' perspectives on agency helpfulness, satisfaction with counselor’s assistance, accomplishment of agency identified objectives for counseling, and suggested areas for program improvement.

The Effect Of Background Noise On Children's Selective Listening Behavior, Cathryn A. Chartier

Dissertations and Theses

This study investigated the effect of distracting linguistic background noise on children's ability to perform three-part commands. A total of twelve first grade subjects, six "normal" and six reading delayed, were individually administered a series of twenty, three-part commands. Each child performed once in quiet and once in a noise environment, and the performances in those two conditions were compared.

Attitudes Of Income Maintenance Line Workers In The State Of Oregon About The Causes And Amelioration Of Poverty, Gene Lamar Stutzman

Dissertations and Theses

It has been of some interest to the profession of social work that eligible persons underutilize or fail to use social services and benefits to which they are legally entitled. A number of different reasons have been cited in the social work literature and otherwise generally accepted within the ranks of the social work profession as possible or probable causes of underutilization or lack of use. The variety of reasons includes client lack of knowledge about programs, lack of motivation on the part of eligible clients to apply for benefits and services, client unawareness about legal recourse in securing services, …

The Development Of A Grassroots Citizen Action Organization, Mary Runge

Dissertations and Theses

The primary purpose of this study is to develop a model community organizing plan for persons wishing to establish a grassroots citizen action organization. Existential in nature, this model will be geared toward easy and practical application, i.e. a "cookbook" approach to the process of organizing a citizen action organization. A secondary purpose of this study is to provide students and beginning community organizers with a basic theoretical and historical orientation by which to understand the field of community organization.

Paraprofessionals In Oregon: An Exploratory Study Of The Status Of Associate Degree Human Service Workers, Richard William Hunter

Dissertations and Theses

The concern in human services as to how to provide skilled manpower of sufficient training and in sufficient numbers to meet public demand has been a source of experimentation and controversy over the past decade. In recent years the rapid growth of social and mental health services has provided a multitude of programs and services for both the poor and non-poor. Traditional services of social welfare -- health care, education, housing and employment -- have been increasingly supplemented by new forms of services (e.g., community organization, youth work, recreation, and personal growth therapy), thus vastly expanding the numbers of actual …

A Comparison Between A Clinical Sample Of Parents And Non-Parents, As Reflected By Their Scores On The Mmpi, Thomas Kearney, Casey Wegner

Dissertations and Theses

The area of childlessness, particularly voluntary childlessness, has been virtually ignored by most researchers. Pohlman claims to have been unable to find research which supports the popular idea that intentionally childless husbands and wives tend to be emotionally disturbed. However, he does note that he was able to find numerous statements from medical and social science publications which in various ways imply that the deliberately childless are usually maladjusted.

Assertion Training Of Nursing Home Residents, Roberta Saul

Dissertations and Theses

The National Organization for Women use assertion training as a part of its strategy to overcome the oppression of women in our society. Certainly another group of people who suffer from oppression are the elderly. When a person in our society reaches age 65, he or she may suddenly be perceived as of decreased worth and may face forced retirement and quite often may have to adjust to a lifestyle of poverty. If an elderly person's physical health begins to wane, a nursing home may suddenly become the day to day environment he or she must accept.

The therapists in …

Metrication In Highway Design And Operations, Taher A. Al-Fadhli

Dissertations and Theses

The complex problem of metrication of highway design, construction and maintenance has been the subject of a number of studies and pilot projects carried out by the Federal Highway Administration (F.H.W.A.) of the United States and the Roads and Transportation Association of Canada. Through a research grant, the FHWA of the U.S.A. assigned the Ohio Department of Transportation, the Illinois Department of Transportation and the Oregon Highway Division to design, construct, and maintain these metric projects. The author has reviewed the experience and conclusions of these studies and the problems encountered in the pilot projects relative to the design, survey, …

Public Education Finance: Urban Rural Tax Burden Distribution, Omer S. Ertur

Dissertations and Theses

Within the past decade the emphasis in school finance research has been toward formulating financing models to solve the inequities in educational opportunity. School finance research has concentrated, generally, on structuring school finance alternatives based on school district fiscal behavior. However, these studies did not analyze in detail the school finance alternatives' impacts on the individual taxpayers. The problem remains that, while various school finance alternatives may attain equal educational opportunity by equalizing the level of expenditures among school districts, they could expand the tax burden distribution inequities.

Policy analysis allows one to develop a rational policy procedure on empirical …

The Evaluation Of A Title Xx Training Grant In Child Care Treatment, GilbéRt Louis PeñA

Dissertations and Theses

The focus of this paper is two-fold. First to evaluate a course in child care, treatment, and, second, while doing so, to trace the evolution of child care as a profession. The course being evaluated here was not an isolated event. It was a small part of a national movement to upgrade child care and the child care worker. This is a young, upcoming profession in its developmental stages. Consequently, many of the issues and training methods presented here will be improved and become more sophisticated by the time this paper is printed.

At the same time there is a …

Toward A Model Of Interorganizational Fields : A Case Study Of A Social Service Federation, Ralph Cherry

Dissertations and Theses

The concept of interorganizational field refers to the pattern of relationships or the context within which organizations negotiate or compete to accomplish their goals. This paper examines the proposition that the type of interorganizational field shapes and· influences interactions between organizations. To explore the nature of any contextual effects, a hypothesis is extracted to represent each of four subareas of the literature: the transaction or exchange, the resource dependency, the communication, and the division of labor subareas. Non-verification of the hypotheses indicates the extent and the manner in which interorganizational fields can affect relations between organizations.

A case study of …

Political Activities Of Professional Social Workers Residing In Portland, Oregon, Connie May Henes

Dissertations and Theses

In order to assess political activity levels of Portland social workers, thirty Master of Social Work (M.S.W.) social workers were interviewed according to a structured questionnaire. The members of the sample were selected from National Association of Social Workers, Oregon Chapter membership and from selected public social service agencies.

The results showed, in comparison to previous research findings of Lester Milbrath and Julian Woodward, that Portland social workers are more politically active and knowledgeable than hypothesized. Portland social workers were found to be largely Democrats. The most politically active social workers were found to be those who are employed in …

Medical Social Workers' Attitudes Toward Death And Related Matters, Lon M. Stratton

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study to examine the attitudes of several (MSW) medical social workers, currently employed in hospital settings, regarding: (1) death and dying issues, (2) education and training received related to working with the terminally ill patient, (3) specific practice issues which relate to the terminal patient, and, lastly, (4) the effectiveness of each social worker's place of employment in meeting the needs of the terminally ill patient and providing for adequate training of staff in this sensitive area.

The Minorities Of Czechoslovakia And Poland : Of Treaties And Human Nature, Bryant L. Larson

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis explores briefly two experimental cases, Czechoslovakia and Poland, where between 1919 and 1938, efforts were made to solve the “minority problem." This thesis consists of five basic parts: Chapter I, an introduction that defines or describes such concepts as nationalism, nation, state, and minority; Chapter II that succinctly presents backgrounds and problems of minorities in Czechoslovakia (Germans, Magyars, Ruthenians, and Jews), and Poland (Germans, Jews and Ukrainians); Chapter III that analyzes the provisions of the Minority Treaties prepared by the principal Allied Powers at the end of World War I to protect minority rights within Czechoslovakia and Poland; …

Politics Of Land Use : The Lengthy Saga Of Senate Bill 100, Kathleen Joan Zachary

Dissertations and Theses

Theoretical literature on the politics of land use is so limited that original research into the problem was required. The drafting and enactment of Senate Bill 100 by the Fifty-seventh Session of the Oregon Legislature provided the basis for researching my premise of need equals want. The bill designated state land use planning organizational structure.

The Land Use Policy Committee minutes and Legislative minutes were merged with information attained through personal interviews from a variety of participants in the drafting of the Senate Bill 100. Theoretical literature was equally available in Public Administration, Law and Land Use Planning. The Constitutions …

Material-Specific Processes In Tactile Short-Term Memory, Christina Anne Meyers

Dissertations and Theses

Studies concerning tactile short-term memory (short-term memory or the sense of touch) have often been contradictory. Some of these studies support the existence of modality-specific tactile memory, a separate, independent storage system for tactile information. Other studies do not support such a system. Further, confusion has arisen regarding the tactile test materials, since many of them use common shapes which are easily labeled verbally. It is hypothesized that information which can be labeled is stored in material-specific verbal memory in the left hemisphere, while patterned or spatial information is stored in material-specific nonverbal memory in the right hemisphere.

This paper …

Description And Analysis Of The Public Guardian And Conservator Program In Multnomah County, Oregon, Dianne Wyers

Dissertations and Theses

The law and the public programs designed to implement the intent of the law should serve as a model for the way in which needs are met in our society. With this view in mind, a study of the Public Guardian and Conservator program has been undertaken.

This study is the first written description of a young program designed to offer unique services to legally incapacitated persons. Public guardianship and conservatorship evolved from an early notion that a guarantee of rights is a public as well as a private responsibility. The question of the extent of public responsibility required as …