Jay D. Schvaneveldt

Contemporary views of euthanasia: A regional assessment

Abstract A survey of euthanasia attitudes of 245 college students at six universities in three regions of the United States was completed using two scales which assessed ideological position toward and behavioral endorsement of euthanasia actions. Geographical region, religious participation, mass media, class rank, socioeconomic status, and personality (locus of control) were associated in various ways with the scales employed. In addition, the attitudinal and behavioral dimensions were moderately associated.

Strengthening Families: New Horizons in Family Life Education.

Scholarly predictions regarding the demise of the family have persisted for well over a century. The controversy centering on the viability of the family is fairly evenly divided-on one side are those (e.g., see Bane, 1976; Lasch, 1977) who contend that families have always faced challenges and hardships, yet they have managed to survive and flourish. Those on the other side of the debate (e.g., refer to Spanier, 1989) cite factors such as changing family structures, high divorce rates, large numbers of mothers in the workforce, and family violence as indications that families are in trouble. Mancini and Orthner (1988) speculated that the truth lies somewhere in between-some families will survive and some will not.

Family Leadership Styles and Family Well‐Being

Transformational leadership has been associated with optimal outcomes in various organizational settings, in comparison to transactional and laissez-faire leadership. In accordance with research findings from organizational contexts, an exploratory study was conducted with 231 two-parent families to assess the relationship between family leadership styles and family well-being. Family leadership styles were assessed using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, and family well-being was assessed using the Family Profile. Using cluster analysis, four combinations of father-mother leadership styles emerged. From analysis of variance, significant differences in family well-being were found when comparing couples characterized by active transformational leadership to those who were passive or had a laissez-faire style of leadership. Few other statistically significant differences were found when comparing other combinations of leadership styles.

Nutritional Understanding of Preschool Children Taught in the Home or a Child Development Laboratory.

The main conclusion of this research is that preschool children are capable of learning basic concepts of nutrition, including nutritive value, nutrient function, and the impact of nutrition on health. The research design was a before and after experimental model, with 20 children taught nutritional concepts in a child de velopment lab, 20 children taught at home by parents, and 20 children serving as a control group and receiving no instruction. The curriculum was based on nutrient density and used the Index of Nutritional Quality (INQ). Mean compar isons of pre- and posttest scores on a 12-item nutrition test were significant with both the Child Lab and home-taught groups.

Historical Methods in Family Research

In answer to the question, “What is history,” Gallie (1968) stated that it is a wide collection of searches, resting upon evidence, that addresses past human endeavors. History is an account, a story, or a record of what has happened in the life of a people, a country, or a society. It is a branch of knowledge dealing with past events. In a sense, everything we do and say is a part of history. It may not have meaning to others and it may not be recorded for others to ponder, but nevertheless it is a part of the human story. History as a whole tells the story of human actors in a complex world of change, disruption, and continuity. As such, the domain of historical methods constitutes an appropriate context for understanding research findings on attitudes and behavior associated with family functioning.

A comparison of helping, sharing, comforting, honesty, and civic awareness for children in home care, day care, and preschool

Fifty-nine children, including 18 children (10 girls and eight boys) just entering preschool, 19 children (eight girls and 11 boys) just entering or reentering day care, and 22 children (10 girls and 12 boys) in home care were asked to give their solutions to helping, sharing, comforting, and honesty dilemmas and to identify public figures from their pictures (civic awareness). The three subsamples were retested three months later. Scores differed among groups for dependent variables only in civic awareness. Preschool children scored higher on civic awareness than day care or home care children.