Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, 2014, Marriage and Family Counseling/Therapy

The purpose of the present study was to examine the influences of the created constructs of father involvement, family structure (marital status), parental relationship quality, and paternal religiosity on young adult-father relationship quality. Data from all three waves of the National Survey of Families and Households were used to test the present study's hypotheses. Canonical correlation analysis was used to examine the relationships between the eight independent variables (four from each of the first two waves) and the two dependent variables of interest (both from the third wave). Within the framework of Systems Theory, it was hypothesized that each of the constructs of father involvement, family structure, parental relationship quality, and paternal religiosity would be statistically significant predictors of the constructs of young adult-father relationship quality per parental and young adult reports, to varying degrees. All of the created constructs had acceptable or strong internal reliability. Potential contributions of the present study include a better understanding of the relationship of certain family structure and father involvement factors on children's relationships with their fathers in young adulthood, as well as on their overall development. Such understanding could aid clinicians, researchers, parents and educators in better understanding the role of these family structure variables on young adult-father relationship quality.

Committee: Karin Jordan Dr. (Advisor); Xin Liang Dr. (Committee Member); Cynthia Reynolds Dr. (Committee Member); Rebecca Boyle Dr. (Committee Member); Rikki Patton Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Counseling Education; Families and Family Life; Individual and Family Studies; Mental Health; Personal Relationships; Religion; Therapy

Psy. D., Antioch University, 2012, Antioch Santa Barbara: Clinical Psychology

The present study examined the influence that father's residency status and father-child relational qualities have on adolescent psychological adjustment, behavioral outcomes, scholastic achievement, self-identity acculturation, and the subjective well-being of Chinese male immigrants from intact, two-parent households. The relational qualities of interest under investigation consisted of father-son attachment, father involvement, and father acceptance-rejection, from the phenomenological perception of children. A total of 86 participants were included in the overall multivariate analyses - 53 in the father present and 33 in the father absent group, respectively. Results indicate that father attachment positively predicts adolescent psychological adjustment in the father present group, independent of mother-child attachment. However, the importance of peer attachment to psychological health and subjective well-being is also observed. The protective effect that father attachment has against psychological maladjustment or personality disposition development is neutralized after adjusting for peer attachment, but not vice versa. In addition, father acceptance also positively associates with adolescent psychological adjustment, whereas father rejection increases the risks of negative personality dispositions. These findings are preliminary due to the small sample size and an overrepresentation of participants with higher educational background.

Committee: Juliet Rohde-Brown PhD (Committee Chair); Steven Kadin PhD (Committee Member); William Liu PhD (Committee Member); Joe Becher MA (Committee Member) Subjects: Asian American Studies; Asian Studies; Clinical Psychology; Families and Family Life; Mental Health; Personal Relationships; Personality; Psychology; Quantitative Psychology

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2024, Sociology

For a long time, research on parenting had focused solely on motherhood and its effects on family outcomes and positive child development. However, in recent years, fathers' role in family well-being has been recognized among scholars from various disciplines, such as demography, psychology, family studies, social work, and criminology. Becoming a parent is a major life transition, and how parents adapt to their new role is influenced by various factors. For fathers, these factors include the relationship with the child's mother, their family background, and how they are positioned within their social contexts. Yet having a history of antisocial behavior may hamper the ability of fathers to parent their children in entirely positive ways. Using Wave 6 of the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (TARS), I examine the association between fathers' antisocial behavior and their involvement with their children, and the role of social support in facilitating father-child relationships. I also situate this study in a life course framework and examine whether the timing of fatherhood is a key factor that affects father-child relationships. This study contributes to criminology and family sociology by exploring the complex relationship between antisocial behavior, social support, and father involvement with their children.

Committee: Danielle Kuhl Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Monica Longmore Ph.D. (Committee Member); Wendy Manning Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Criminology; Sociology

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2020, Cross-Cultural, International Education

This study examines the effect of perceived parental academic support and perceived parental educational aspirations on the academic achievement (mathematics, reading, & GPA) of White, African American, Hispanic, and Multi-racial adolescent students (7, 8, and 10th graders) in a public school district in Northwest Ohio, USA. As part of a larger four-year longitudinal research project known as the Adolescent Academic Context Study (AACS), this research conducted cross-sectional mixed-methods analysis. An embedded correlational mixed-methods design was used where qualitative data (n = 53) complements the primary quantitative data (N = 754) analysis. The qualitative component is embedded within a correlational design to explain the predictive relationships found in regression analysis. Unlike most studies in this research area that investigate parental involvement as a combination of paternal and maternal influence, this study explored mothers' and fathers' support and aspirations individual effect on adolescents' academic functioning. Furthermore, this study also examined whether race/ethnicity moderated those relationships. Quantitative analysis revealed that both paternal and maternal aspirations influence adolescent student's achievement; however, it appeared that father aspirations in particular demonstrated more consistent and stronger association with all three measures of achievement and was the only family variable that demonstrated significance for ethnic minoritized students. Mother aspirations was positively associated with math achievement for White youth but not for ethnic minoritized youth. Mother support was positively related to GPA for White students, demonstrating no significant relationship for ethnic minoritized participants. Moreover, mother support was weakly negatively associated with math and reading scores among ethnic minoritized youth. Finally, father support did not demonstrate any significant effect for the total sample; however, similar (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Margaret Booth PhD (Advisor); Christopher Frey PhD (Committee Member); Jean Gerard PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Psychology; Secondary Education

Master of Arts, University of Akron, 2013, Communication

This study investigates memorable messages that sons and daughters report receiving from their fathers or step-fathers while actively or passively participating in sports together. The premise was to examine the messages that fathers use with children and how this affects the relationship satisfaction of the sons and daughters later in life. Also of interest, is the comparison of messages that fathers share with sons and daughters. Findings from the study indicate five message supra-types including Effort, Quality traits, Emphasis on physical skills/performance, Attention on others and Have fun. A chi-square analysis revealed that fathers share similar messages with sons and daughters, while ANOVA test results point to a significant relationship between certain types of memorable messages offered by fathers when compared with the relationship satisfaction reported by sons and daughters later in life.

Committee: Elizabeth Graham Dr. (Advisor); Heather Walter Dr. (Committee Member); Kathleen Stansberry Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2011, Counselor Education (Education)

This heuristic study involving seven coresearchers, which included the author, explores the experiences of women from mother-present/father-absent homes and their ability to form and maintain close female friendships. The heuristic research model was chosen to provide the opportunity to conduct research in a very personalized, collaborative way with my coresearchers. From our first meeting through the creative synthesis, it was vital to use a research model that honored the exploration of feelings with all their associated meanings. Little was found in the literature that paired father absence and women's ability to form close female friendships. The author wanted to discover if other women from mother-present/father-absent homes had challenges forming and maintaining close female friendships. Some of the coresearchers' experiences (our ability to form and maintain close female friendships, the effects from our fathers' absence, and the meaning we ascribed to these experiences) were substantiated by the literature, while others were not. Some information could not be examined because it could not be located in the literature. Six core essence themes (which contained 44 dominant themes) including: the satisfaction of close female friendships, obstacles faced in making close female friends, mother's influence also needs consideration, yearning for Daddy, and father behaving badly are explored in detail.

Committee: Tracy Leinbaugh PhD (Committee Chair); Peter Mather PhD (Committee Member); Yegan Pillay PhD (Committee Member); Gregory Janson PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Counseling Education

MA, Kent State University, 2008, College of Communication and Information / School of Communication Studies

This study examined interpersonal communication motives, communication satisfaction, relational satisfaction, and psychological well-being in the father-young adult daughter relationships. The main purpose of the study was to see whether communication and/or relational satisfaction mediated a connection between interpersonal communication motives and psychological well-being. Young adult daughters (n = 223) ranging in age from 18-24 provided self-reports of their interpersonal communication motives for talking with their fathers, their communication and relational satisfaction with their fathers, and their own level of psychological well-being. Results revealed that neither communication nor relational satisfaction mediated a relationship between interpersonal communication motives and psychological well-being. Nevertheless, a significant connection between young adult daughters' interpersonal communication motives and their psychological well-being was revealed. There was also a significant relationship between young adult daughters' communication satisfaction with their fathers and their psychological well-being. Overall, the findings suggested that communication exchanges between fathers and young adult daughters have a powerful influence on young adult daughters' psychological well-being. Contributions and limitations of the investigation are discussed and suggestions for future research are provided.

Committee: Nichole Egbert PhD (Advisor) Subjects: Communication

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2010, Sociology

There have been studies that have linked family structure as a whole to the intergenerational transmission of marriage behavior (Manning et al., 2007; McLanahan and Booth, 1989). Some studies (Booth, Brinkerhoff and White, 1984; Greenberg and Nay, 1982; Jennings et al., 1992; Jones and Nelson, 1996; Wallerstein and Kelly, 1974) have incorporated crude measures of family structure, such as whether or not parents are divorced, to explain adolescent marital attitudes. Research has not taken into account how parent-child relationships act as channels for the intergenerational transmission of marriage behaviors. Additionally, researchers know less about how fathers in various family structures either hamper or promote children's attitudes towards marriage through the parent-child relationship. The purpose of this thesis is to examine how father involvement, in differing family structures, impacts children's marital expectations. The social learning perspective and parental investment theory serve as the conceptual framework for ensuing analyses by emphasizing how conventional values are passed on from one generation to the next and how biological versus non-biological fathers are prompted to pass core values to their respective children. This thesis specifically examines resident father-child relationships utilizing data from waves 1 and 3 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) (Udry 2003). Overall findings suggest that most adolescents want to get married and think they have a great chance of doing so. Adolescents show increased odds of the importance of expecting to marry across various characteristics including being employed, having favorable attitudes toward marriage and being married. Adolescents who are close to their fathers and are involved in various activities with their fathers (e.g. going to church, going shopping and going to the movies) are more likely to think that it is extremely important to be married someday. But father (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Catherine Kenney PhD (Advisor); Gary Oates PhD (Committee Member); Kara Joyner PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Sociology

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2013, Leadership and Change

The purpose of this exploratory study is to examine what the son-father relationship experience feels like (the phenomenology of the son-father relationship), and how the relationship experience affects leadership development, specifically in the son. I chose to reverse the order of the typical reference on this topic (father-son) in order to emphasize the significance of the son (role) being the central character or object of interest, even in instances where the character is a father in addition to being a son. Additionally, it should be noted that all fathers are sons, but not all sons are fathers (biologically, and/or socially, and/or conceptually). My central research question is: How is leadership development influenced by the phenomenological characteristics of the son-father relationship experience? I address this question through a series of interviews with adolescent boys age 17 and men between 18 and 45 years of age. The foundation of my interview protocol is built on a series of theory-based questions (Wengraf, 2001) that are outlined below. Analysis of these interviews is presented along with a comparative review of the scholarly literature on leadership development in adolescents. The primary value of this research is its applicability to youth leadership development programs with respect to the potential to add an emphasis on values and practices that cultivate healthy sustainable relationships that are consistent with responsible and effective parent involvement and planning, family leadership, and community support. While there is considerable consideration being acknowledged to an anecdotal connection between how boys are, or should be, affected by the leadership qualities of their fathers, very little was articulated about how the participants felt their own leadership development was influenced by the relationship experience, particularly juxtaposed to the amount of attention the participants spent on describing their feelings and emotions about (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Philomena Essed Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Elizabeth Holloway Ph.D. (Committee Member); Michael J. Diamond Ph.D. (Committee Member); Toby Miller Ph.D. (Other) Subjects: African American Studies; African Americans; Asian American Studies; Behavioral Psychology; Black Studies; Cognitive Psychology; Communication; Counseling Education; Developmental Psychology; Early Childhood Education; Education; Education Philosophy; Educational Leadership; Educational Psychology; Educational Sociology; Elementary Education; Ethnic Studies; Experimental Psychology; Families and Family Life; Gender Studies; Hispanic American Studies; Individual and Family Studies; Literacy; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Multicultural Education; Pedagogy; Personal Relationships; Personality; Personality Psychology; Philosophy; Preschool Education; Psychology; Social Psychology; Social Research; Social Structure; Social Studies Education; Social Work; Sociology; Special Education

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2008, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Leadership Studies, Xavier University, 2022, Leadership Studies and Human Resource Development

This study assessed a linkage between father-nurture or lack thereof and the development of leadership capacities through the lens of Bowlby's (1969, 1988) Attachment Theory. The constructs of father-nurture or lack thereof, which was theoretically grounded in Bowlby's key parental attachments of Secure, Anxious-Resistant, and Anxious-Avoidant, were measured by the five constructs of Safe, Fearful, Parentified, Distant, and Dependent relationship with fathers or father-figures during childhood and adolescence, delineated from Michael and Snow's (2019) Adult Scale of Parental Attachment. The leadership capacities were measured by the aspects of cognitive, moral, and social-emotional development that have been emphasized from well-established leadership theories—Authentic, Charismatic, Servant-Leadership, and Transformational/Transactional. In a sample of 38 adult participants, multiple linear regression models provide evidence that 1) those with a lower level of feeling Safe with fathers or father-figures exhibit a significantly lower level of leadership capacities from the aspects of cognitive and moral development, and 2) those with a higher level of feeling a Distant relationship with fathers or father-figures are significantly more likely to show a lower level of leadership capacities from the aspect of cognitive development. This study signifies the roles of fathers or father-figures during childhood and adolescence in the development process of leadership capacities from the aspects of cognitive and moral development.

Committee: Ahlam Lee Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Michael A. Riley Ph.D. (Committee Member); Stacey Raj Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Behavioral Psychology; Behavioral Sciences; Developmental Psychology; Educational Leadership; Educational Psychology; Evolution and Development; Families and Family Life; Organizational Behavior; Psychology; Quantitative Psychology; Social Psychology

Master of Fine Arts (MFA), Bowling Green State University, 2022, Creative Writing/Fiction

There is this guy named Nick. He has a pretty rough life. He tries to solve many issues by fixing and running around on motorcycles. Those issues are masculine issues, relationship issues, father issues, body image issues, fat shaming, violence amongst men and young boys, depression, suicide, religion (particularly Catholicism) and perhaps some existential issues. I think everything works out for him, but I'm not sure yet. I hope it does though.

Committee: Jackson Bliss Ph.D. (Committee Member); Lawrence Coates Ph.D. (Advisor) Subjects: Fine Arts; Folklore; Gender; Gender Studies; Literature; Philosophy; Theology

Master of Arts (M.A.), University of Dayton, 2021, Theological Studies

The Vatican's condemnation of Fr. John Augustine Zahm's most famous work, Evolution and Dogma, in the autumn of 1898 has traditionally been the subject of great interest among religious scholars and historians. This thesis describes several coalescing factors that negatively affected the book's fate: the neo-Thomists' critical reaction to Zahm's use of Saints Augustine and Aquinas in defense of evolutionism; the author's Americanist connections; the release of the French translation of Walter Elliott's The Life of Father Hecker; and the Church's resistance to the advancements of liberalism in European society, especially after the French Revolution. However, this thesis also takes a step further and argues that Fr. Zahm's writing and teaching career did not cease after the condemnation of his book. His passion for imparting an intelligent faith to his Catholic readers and audiences did not cease; his expansion efforts at the University of Notre Dame as Provincial of the Congregation of Holy Cross and his later publications, such as the trilogy of South American travelogues and the apologetic work Woman in Science, are testaments to his enduring “teaching heart” -- his passion for pursuing knowledge and communicating new understandings to others. This thesis emphasizes the importance of acknowledging Fr. Zahm's life holistically, in broad strokes. His contribution to American Catholic history need not be limited to the intrigue surrounding Evolution and Dogma.

Committee: William Portier (Committee Chair); William Trollinger Jr. (Committee Member); Sandra Yocum (Committee Member) Subjects: American History; Religion; Religious History; Science History; Theology

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2021, Psychology

The transition to parenthood is a challenging period for sustaining and building strong interparental relationships (i.e., marital relationships and coparenting relationships), which are critical to family functioning and children's positive development. However, interparental relationships appear to have a greater impact on fathering than mothering, as suggested by the father vulnerability hypothesis. In the current study, I explored stability and change in multiple aspects of the interparental relationship using data from 182 dual-earner different-gender couples followed across their transition to parenthood and latent growth curve modeling. I also examined how different aspects of the interparental relationship shaped new parents' parenting quantity as well as parenting quality and tested whether fathers were more vulnerable in a cross-lagged panel design. Couples reported on aspects of their marital relationships and coparenting relationships across the transition to parenthood. At three months and nine months postpartum, parents' positive engagement with children was obtained from self-reports, and parenting quality was evaluated through observations. Overall, the results showed that mothers' and fathers' interparental relationships remained stable across the transition to parenthood. Both mothers and fathers showed small decreases in marital confidence, but only fathers showed increases in marital constraint and decreases in coparenting endorsement. Better marital functioning was associated with higher levels of parenting quality. Lower coparenting conflict and higher coparenting endorsement were associated with higher parenting quality. Coparenting support predicted higher levels of parents' positive engagement with children. The effect of marital relationships and coparenting relationships on parenting did not differ for mothers and fathers, which did not support the father vulnerability hypothesis. Findings are discussed in terms of strength, limitations, a (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan (Advisor); Stephen Petrill (Committee Member); Minjung Kim (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2021, History

The Great Depression and New Deal had a profound impact on the United States. It led to the need for fundamental changes in the nation, especially regarding the federal government's role and size. The beginning of the Great Depression marked the end of the “New Era” that the United States had experienced in the 1920s. However, one group of Americans—farmers—did not participate in this “New Era,” including those in three Northwestern Ohio counties: Hancock, Seneca, and Wood. This study analyzes through voting and media analysis how these three counties reacted to the Great Depression and the New Deal from 1929 to 1936. As the Depression continued to worsen, their suffering continued and even worsened, and with Herbert Hoover's inability to provide relief or a path to recovery, these counties and the rest of the nation turned to Franklin Roosevelt and his promise of a “new deal” to provide that relief. Within these counties, the New Deal was initially seen as successful; however, it was soon seen as having a corrosive effect on traditional American values. Because of this, these counties rejected Roosevelt and the New Deal in 1936, while the rest of the nation overwhelmingly supported him. While there has been historical scholarship published on rural farming in the Midwest during the Great Depression, there has been little analysis of Northwest Ohio and especially these three counties. There has also been little historical scholarship published on the New Deal's impact on a more local level. I argue that Hancock, Seneca, and Wood counties' citizens saw traditional American values as the best solutions to economic problems. If federal relief was deemed necessary, it should only provide enough to allow those values to resume their effectiveness.

Committee: Rebecca Mancuso Dr. (Advisor); Michael Brooks Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: American History; History

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2019, Theatre

Scholarly and literary women are some of the most beloved characters on the musical stage, yet the importance of these character's intelligence and creativity has received virtually no scholarly attention. In this study I seek to understand how intelligent and creative heroines are constructed in American musicals and whether they are empowered feminist role models. Relying on an understanding of women's intellectual history and the slow and inconsistent growth of women's broader acceptance as intellectual and creative experts, I strongly suggest that the reading, writing, teaching, and studying activities of bookish female characters in musicals offer us an opportunity to speak back to and re-envision our feminist and intellectual histories and oppressions. Furthermore, I argue that the musical form is uniquely suited to the representation of bookish women who empower themselves and others through their bookish activities. When bookish women are able to reveal their intellectual and creative inner life, we see more clearly how they exhibit attitudes and action whereby they claim power themselves and others. Seven traits common in the construction of bookish women in musicals are also identified and deployed. These traits make legible the empowering use and effect of bookishness in the character's personality and experience. These include 1) their adaptation from film and literature sources; 2) their heroine journeys of development or becoming (sometimes referred to as a bildungsroman(e); 3) their experience of marginalization in their community and/or expression of feelings of marginalization that are sometimes due to, or exacerbated by, their bookishness; 4) experience of prolonged singleness or expectations of prolonged singleness; 5) their comparison with non-bookish women; 6) their significant father/daughter relationships, often because of the absence of a mother; 7) and their resistance to racialized and gendered stereotypes. Using a variety of theoretica (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Michael Ellison PhD (Advisor); Andrew Pelletier PhD (Other); Angela Ahlgren PhD (Committee Member); Cynthia Baron PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Theater

Master of Fine Arts, The Ohio State University, 2019, Art

My art materialized my grief, but it did not heal it. “Every day you have to abandon your past or accept it, and then, if you cannot accept it, you become a sculptor.” – Louise Bourgeois, 1982,

Committee: George Rush (Advisor); Laura Lisbon (Committee Member); Kris Paulsen (Committee Member) Subjects: Fine Arts

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2019, Nursing

Background and aims: One of the keys to adult success and wellbeing is early childhood self-regulation. However, research findings suggest that a disproportionate number of children living with socioeconomic adversity have poorer self-regulation than their more advantaged peers. To help combat this disparity, we need to better understand early self-regulation and how it develops within socioeconomic adversity. Our current understanding of early self-regulation development and socioeconomic adversity is summarized and outlined in Shonkoff's (2012) ecobiodevelopmental framework. The ecobiodevelopmental framework and other empirical research results suggest that: a) early childhood may be a sensitive period when self-regulation trajectories are more strongly shaped by cumulative adversities within the early environment than during later periods and b) the process through which this may occur is through prolonged stress in the mother and the child. Guided by the ecobiodevelopmental framework to understand early self-regulation development within the context of socioeconomic disadvantage, there are three specific aims (and hypotheses) of this dissertation to determine whether and how much: 1. More cumulative ecologic adversities (CEA) during the child's early development (from approximately ages 15-19 months to 20-24 months) contribute to poorer child self-regulation at age 20-24 months. 2. Prolonged stress in the child (measured over a 4-month period prior to the self-regulation measurement) mediates the relationship between CEA and child self-regulation. 3. Prolonged stress in the mother (measured over a 4-month period prior to the child self-regulation measurement) mediates the relationship between CEA and the child's prolonged stress levels and self-regulation. Methods: The study used a descriptive, correlational design. Both primary and secondary data were used in this study. Secondary data were from an ongoing longitudinal cohort study of (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Pamela Salsberry (Advisor); Jodi Ford (Advisor); Rita Pickler (Committee Member) Subjects: Developmental Biology; Developmental Psychology; Endocrinology; Families and Family Life; Health; Health Sciences; Nursing; Physiological Psychology; Public Health

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2018, Human Ecology: Human Development and Family Science

Successful navigation of the transition to formal schooling in early childhood, and other domains across the life span, requires strong self-regulation skills to manage behavior, effectively learn in an elementary school environment, and develop positive relationships with peers. Scholars agree that young children's self-regulation skills are largely shaped by the quality of relational experiences during the first several years of life (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000). However, little prior research has taken a family systems perspective and considered the role of fathers' parenting and supportive coparenting behavior, or the extent to which parenting partners take a team-oriented, collaborative approach (Feinberg, 2003), in the development of children's emerging self-regulation skills. Fathers' parenting is associated with positive child social and emotional adjustment, even when accounting for the mother-child relationship (Sarkadi, Kristiansson, Oberklaid, & Bremberg, 2008). Furthermore, both fathers' quality and quantity of parenting (i.e., time spent in childrearing and child-related activities) following the birth of their child often sets the stage for future patterns of involvement (Doherty, Erickson, & LaRossa, 2006). Although research has generally indicated that father involvement in childrearing has increased substantially in recent decades (Lamb, 2010), few studies have considered predictors of fathers' parenting quality, defined as positive parenting behaviors such as sensitivity, engagement, and positive affect, or the consequences of fathers' high-quality parenting and quantity of involvement for the development of children's self-regulation. The overarching aim of the collection of studies presented in this dissertation was to examine predictors of fathers' parenting during the infancy-toddlerhood period, and to evaluate the consequences of fathers' parenting for the development of children's self-regulation. Additionally, the larger context in w (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan (Committee Chair); Feng Xin (Committee Member); Purtell Kelly (Committee Member); Wong Jen (Committee Member) Subjects: Developmental Psychology; Families and Family Life; Social Research

Master of Humanities (MHum), Wright State University, 2017, Humanities

This thesis is a survey of contemporary horror films from the perspective of fundamentalist American audiences. Using Judith Butler's work on gender performativity and religious studies scholarship as framework, I investigate how five visual texts perpetuate patriarchal family structures. The five texts I explore are The Last Exorcism (2010), The Conjuring (2013) and The Conjuring 2 (2016), The Witch: A New England Folk Tale (2015), and The Exorcist television series (2016). In each chapter, I analyze a key family member per patriarchal norms, and how violations of these norms contribute to the family's supernatural crisis. The figures I analyze for each text is The Weak Father, The Bad Mother, and The Unstable Daughter. The texts' shared, repetitious message implies that societal order can be (re)established once individuals adhere to fundamentalist patriarchal standards, reinforcing many scholars' conclusions that fundamentalist Christianity continues to be a pervasive, dominant force in American culture.

Committee: Hope Jennings Ph.D. (Advisor); Christine Junker Ph.D. (Committee Member); Andrea Harris M.A. (Committee Member) Subjects: American Studies; Film Studies; Gender Studies; Glbt Studies; Motion Pictures; Religion; Womens Studies