Congratulations to Amanda Austin, Jennifer Cerny, and Jacqueline Lee Taylor for successfully completing their Graduate Theses. Their abstracts can be viewed below.

Amanda Austin

Male-to-Female Partner Violence During Marital Separation: An Examination of White and Hispanic Men.

The purpose of this study was to examine predictors of separation violence among a sample of 113 White men and 72 Hispanic men who were either divorced or in the process of divorcing. Specifically, age, income, education, employment status, and symptoms of alcoholism, depression, and anxiety were examined as possible predictors of separation violence. Crisis theory was used to examine if these precipitating factors and barriers to effective coping exacerbated the emotional crisis of separation, and thus increased the likelihood that the individual reacted violently towards his partner. The overall model significantly predicted separation violence for the White sample. In particular, education level and employment status were significant predictors of separation violence. However, the model was not significant for Hispanic men, although symptoms of depression, anxiety, and alcoholism were independent predictors of separation violence.


Jennifer Cerny

Child Life Specialists' Experiences Working with Physically Abused Children

The purpose of this study was to explore child life specialists' experiences working with physically abused children. Specifically, five main research questions were addressed: (a) How much education and training have child life specialists had in recognizing and working with physically abused children? (b) What knowledge do they have regarding working with child abuse? (c) How confident are they working with physically abused children, and what factors are related to this confidence? (d) What characteristics have child life specialists noticed among these children, and how do these characteristics influence how the child life specialists work with these children? (e) What critical experiences have child life specialists encountered working with physically abused children, and how have these experiences influenced the way child life specialists work with these children? It was found that child life specialists have little education and training for working with this population; only 40% of those studied felt they had been adequately prepared to do so. Regardless, these child life specialists were highly knowledgeable about child abuse and reported high levels of confidence working with this population. Child life specialists also reported characteristics they noticed among the abused children, including being withdrawn, behavioral problems, emotional characteristics, attachment issues, fear, and social issues. Child life specialists reported using techniques such as providing trust building activities, a safe environment, focused attention on the child, adjusted interventions, and expressive activities when working with these children. Few critical experiences working with physically abused children were reported. However, responses reflected several themes such as unexpected victims, the need to be more aware of possible instances of abuse, experiences working with the families, and stories of successful transitions from victim to survivor.

Jacqueline Lee Taylor

The Impact of Early Childhood Experiences on Choosing Child Care as a Profession:  Implications for Professional Development