In this article, the authors merge the study of support, strain, and ambivalence in family relationships with the study of stress to explore the ways family members provide support or contribute to strain in the disaster recovery process. The authors analyze interviews with 71 displaced Hurricane Katrina survivors, and identify three family…

This study explored media usage among adolescents and its relations to academic performance and aggressive behavior from a qualitative research perspective. This study represents the first of its kind by utilizing a phenomenological methodology to gain insights about lived experiences of adolescents' media use relative to their academic…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe how family members experience the phenomenon of adolescent pregnancy and parenting in the family unit, over time, and to examine the meanings family members attach to the experience. The participants were six nuclear families (20 individuals) of six adolescent mothers who had previously…

This study examines literacies practiced in bilingual households located in emerging communities along the Texas-Mexico border known as border colonias. Drawing on theoretical notions of space as geographic and temporal, the simultaneity of global and local forces at work in colonias, and expressions of agency that are "in between"…

Based on in-depth interviews with 64 American parents of teenagers, I examine how parents navigate the complex landscape of abstinence, personal responsibility, and sexual well-being in their sexuality lessons to their children. Reflecting the dominance of the abstinence-only discourse, many parents expressed a sense of accountability to promote…

Research Findings: Using longitudinal survey data from the Welfare, Children, and Families Study: A Three-City Study ("n" = 135), this study examines how congruence in maternal and child care provider sensitivities contributes to young children's social, emotional, and academic outcomes among low-income minority families. Congruence…

Dating behaviors and sexual attitudes of Asian-American youth were examined in a cross-sectional, mixed-methods study in the context of adherence to Asian values, measured by the Asian Values Scale (AVS). In all, 31 Asian-American adolescents (age 14-18 years old) from a Houston community center were interviewed regarding dating behaviors and…

Background factors that correlate with juvenile delinquency are consistent across the interdisciplinary literature base. Yet, information about the process of how risks relate to outcomes, especially within school settings, is limited. Researchers used qualitative methods to examine school and interpersonal experiences from the perspective of…

This study examined the development and effects of school-wide student-led conferencing (SLC) at four middle schools across four states, namely California, Oregon, Texas, and Washington. All site administrators, 30 teachers, and 524 middle school students and their parents in 30 classrooms participated in this study. Methodology included student…

The impact of college on women in a maximum-security prison was examined in a 3-year study of current and former inmates of New York's Bedford Hills Correctional Facility (BHCF). The data sources were as follows: (1) a review of program records; (2) one-on-one interviews of 65 inmates conducted by 15 inmates; (3) focus groups with 43 women in BHCF…