Taking The 'Sport' Out of Sports Parenting: Toward A Theory of Sport Related Parent-Child Communication Competency

Research has shown that over-emphasis on winning is the number one reason why approximately seventy percent of the forty million children who participate in youth sports will quit by age 13. This study utilized a constructivist grounded theory approach to investigate the role of parent-child communication within the context of youth sports. A total of 22 athletes and 20 parents were recruited through a Western university to discuss messages exchanged during youth sport participation. The results suggest that the delineation between messages of support and pressure is largely dependent on discursive work done by both parent and child. Parents who employed competent communicative strategies to avoid miscommunications regarding participation and sports goals were able to provide support and strengthen the relationship despite pressurized situations. The present study frames the youth sport dilemma within a developing conceptualization of communicative (in)competence and offers theoretical implications for sport related parent-child communication competency (SRPCCC).

Leading With the Relationship: The Role of the Therapeutic Relationship in Motivational Interviewing

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a brief evidence-based treatment that is most commonly used to treat addictive behaviors and to encourage diet and lifestyle changes and treatment adherence in health care settings. In recent years MI's use has been expanded to multiple other client populations in clinical psychology, as well as to other sectors, such as in education, and international non-profit work (Hettema at al., 2005). MI was inspired by research that demonstrated a high correlation between therapist application of the client-centered skill of accurate empathy and a reduction in drinking behaviors (Miller et al., 1980). MI contains both relational and technical components that are intended to operate synergistically. Despite a large body of research on MI treatment outcomes, variation in effectiveness has been found among studies, and the active ingredients of MI, particularly the relational aspects, are not well understood. As a result, the use of MI in many treatment settings is limited to the technical components of MI without a theory-based integration of the therapeutic relationship. This paper focuses on the contribution of the relational component to the effectiveness of MI, and explores the synergistic relationship between the technical and relational components of MI. A literature review of MI and the trans-theoretical literature on the therapeutic relationship is followed by two case illustrations. The paper concludes with recommendations for the field.

Restrictive and Expansive Views of Equality: A Grounded Theory Study that Explores the Influence of Racial Consciousness on the Behaviors of White Faculty in the Classroom

Attempts to address the ever increasing achievement gap among students have failed to explain how and why educational traditions and teaching practices perpetuate the devaluing of some and the overvaluing of others. This predicament, which plagues our educational system, has been of increased concern, given the growing racial diversity among college students and the saturation of White faculty in the academy. White faculty make up the majority, 79%, of all faculty in the academy. White faculty, whether consciously or unconsciously, are less likely to interrogate how race and racism both privilege them within the academy and influence their faculty behaviors. The result of this cyclical, highly cemented process suggests that there is a relationship between racial consciousness and White faculty members' ability to employ behaviors in their classroom that promote equitable educational outcomes for racially minoritized students. An investigation of the literature revealed that racial consciousness and the behaviors of White faculty in the classroom appeared to be inextricably linked. A conceptual framework, Racial Consciousness and Its Influence on the Behaviors of White Faculty in the Classroom was developed by the author and tested in this study. Constructivist grounded theory was used to explore the role White faculty believe they play in the dismantling of the white supremacy embedded in their classrooms through their faculty behaviors. A substantive theory subsequently emerged. Findings indicate that White faculty with a higher level of racial consciousness employ behaviors in their classroom reflective of a more expansive view of equality in their pursuit of social justice, which they consider synonymous with excellence in teaching. This research bears great significance to higher education research and practice, as it is the first of its kind to utilize critical legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw's (1988) restrictive and expansive views of equality framework to empirically measure and describe excellence in college teaching. Implications for faculty preparation and continued education are also discussed.