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Dissertation
Parents' reactions to two Pennsylvania commitment laws for minors: a procedural justice analysis
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Medical College of Pennsylvania and Hahnemann University
Dec 1998
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00010107
Abstract
One hundred twenty-eight adult residents of Pennsylvania completed a brief opinion questionnaire on procedural justice aspects of two commitment laws for minors. The Mental Health Commitment (MHC) law allowed parental control over the commitment decision. The Substance Abuse Commitment (SAC) law required judicial control over the commitment decision. Subjects found the parental control-MHC law to be more fair than the judicial control-SAC law. Subjects were more satisfied with an unfavorable outcome (denial of commitment) under the parental control-MHC law than they were with an unfavorable outcome under the judicial control-SAC law. Multiple regression analyses indicated that when the effect of control over outcome was controlled statistically, perceptions of fairness were determined by elements of procedural justice theory (voice, neutrality of decision-maker, and respect/dignity afforded parents). Neither control over outcome nor procedural justice theory was a significant predictor of satisfaction with an unfavorable outcome under either law. Findings suggest that procedural justice theory does not explain reactions to parent-child disputes as well as it explains other kinds of disputes. These results support the application of procedural justice theory to perceptions of fairness, but not to satisfaction with unfavorable outcomes in parent-child disputes that are subjected to resolution by a third party decision-maker.
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Details
- Title
- Parents' reactions to two Pennsylvania commitment laws for minors
- Creators
- Trudi Zaplac
- Awarding Institution
- Medical College of Pennsylvania and Hahnemann University
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
- Publisher
- Medical College of Pennsylvania and Hahnemann University; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Number of pages
- vii, 87 pages
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Medical College of Pennsylvania and Hahnemann University (1993-1996, 1998-2002); Clinical and Health Psychology [Historical]; School of Health Professions (1998-2000)
- Other Identifier
- 991021888844704721