Digital Commons Network^™

A Critical Glocalization Approach: Attending To Power In The Innovation Space, Maria Wathen

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

The purpose of this paper is to provide community practitioners with the theoretical background to recognize and work in the interplay of global and local forces. This paper reviews globalization as a contested term and presents several globalization paradigms. It introduces critical glocalization as a guiding approach that sensitizes social workers to power dynamics. With this approach, social workers are encouraged to look for innovations that arise in the glocal sphere. They will understand the broader political, economic, structural, policy, and discursive contexts in which they are working, and intentionally look for the marginalized voices in our complex, interconnected world.

Seven Factors That Influence The Effectiveness Of International Development, Jaylyn Perry

Senior Honors Theses

This literature review analyzes the global issue of poverty and the various factors that are influencing the ability of nations to effectively achieve development. The many interpretations of what development is, as well as the categories and forms of poverty, are examined to show the scope of the issue. Seven factors: politics, economics, institutions, culture, geography, aid, and globalization are explored as to their impact on the effectiveness of development around the world. The review of the literature found that effective development is influenced by each one of these factors and it is necessary to consider them when planning and …

Attitudes And Actions That Adoptive Parents Perceive As Helpful In The Process Of Raising Their Internationally Adopted Adolescent, Marina V. Kuzmina

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

This phenomenological dissertation study explored the lived experiences of adoptive parents in the process of raising their internationally adopted adolescents. The researcher interviewed 9 participants. Criteria for selection of the research sample included having personal experience with parenting one or more international adolescents adopted at age 10 or older and raising these adolescents for at least two years following such adoption. Data analysis included steps suggested by Moustakas (1994) and the participation of a research team and external auditor. According to the recommendations of Lincoln and Guba (1985), several strategies for trustworthiness were implemented during this course of the study. …

Acculturation Stress And Depression Among First-Year International Graduate Students From China And India At The University Of South Carolina, Kyunghee Ma

Theses and Dissertations

This cohort study used a mixed-methods pretest/posttest measurement study design. The quantitative method was used to explore the relationship between acculturation stress and depression among first-year international graduate students from China and India enrolled at the University of South Carolina(UofSC), examine the role that social support plays in that relationship, and identify changes in acculturation, social support, and depression over one academic year. The qualitative method helped to further explore how Chinese and Indian international graduate students experienced acculturation stress and to what extent social support helped them cope with their stress.

The sample included 55 students. Primary data were …

Exploring The Impact Of Mental Health On Infant Growth In Urban West Bengal, India :: A Retrospective Cohort Study Exploring The Association Of Mental Health Status Of Parents With A Deterioration In Weight For Age Z Score (As An Indicator Of Under-Nutrition) Of Children Under The Age Of 4 In A Cohort Living In An Impoverished Urban Community In West Bengal, India, Noah E.C. Levinson

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

Underweight malnutrition is considered the underlying contributing factor in 45% of all child deaths worldwide. Employing a retrospective cohort study design, we explored the association of mental illness symptoms of parents with a deterioration in weight for age z score (as an indicator of under-nutrition) of their children under the age of 4 in a cohort living in an impoverished urban community in West Bengal, India. Results, inconsistent with other studies, indicate that the association is not statistically significant among the studied population. The likely explanation is the intensive, multi-faceted nutrition interventions of Calcutta Kids, an organization working for many …

Global Health, Toba Schwaber Kerson, Jessica Euna Lee

Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research Faculty Research and Scholarship

Within its 150 year history, public health has grown from a focus on local communities, to include country-wide, then international and now global perspectives. Using the United Nation’s Millennium Goals as its primary framework, this article provides an overview of global public health within the broadest possible context of the world and all of its peoples. Also provided are discussions of the global burden of disease as measured in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), global health statistics, current health priorities and recommendations for action by social workers and other health professionals.

Parental Involvement's Effects On Academic Performance: Evidence From The Youthsave Ghana Experiment, Gina A. N. Chowa, Rainier D. Masa, Jenna Tucker

Center for Social Development Research

Research in developed countries suggests that parental involvement is associated with youth academic success, but little is known about this relationship in developing countries. Further, it is unclear which type of parental involvement may impact the academic performance of youth from developing countries. This study examines whether (a) parental involvement at home and in school are meaningfully different constructs in a population of Ghanaian youth and their parents and (b) parental involvement predicts academic performance. Results suggest that parental involvement is a bidimensional construct consists of home and school involvement. The effect of parental involvement on youth academic performance appears …

Perceived Impacts Of International Service On Volunteers: Interim Results From A Quasi-Experimental Study, Amanda Moore Mcbride, Benjamin J. Lough, Margaret Sherrard Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

There is growing interest in the potential of international service to foster international understanding between peoples and nations and to promote global citizenship and intercultural cooperation, and international service may be growing in prevalence worldwide. Despite the scale of international service, its impacts are not well understood. Although there is a growing body of descriptive evidence about the various models and intended outcomes of international service, the overwhelming majority of research is based on case and cross-sectional studies, which do not permit conclusions about the impacts of international service. This paper reports on a quasi-experimental study that assesses perceptions of …

Youth Savings Around The World: Youth Characteristics, Savings Performance, And Potential Impacts, Rainier Masa, Margaret Sherraden, Li Zou, Fred Ssewamala, Lissa Johnson, David Ansong, Gina Chowa, Michal Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

Youth Savings Around the World: Youth Characteristics, Savings Performance, and Potential Impacts

Youth Savings Around The World: Youth Characteristics, Savings Performance, And Potential Effects, Rainier Masa, Margaret Sherrard Sherraden, Li Zou, Fred Ssewamala, Lissa Johnson, David Ansong, Gina Chowa, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

Youth Savings Around the World: Youth Characteristics, Savings Performance, and Potential Effects

International Volunteerism In The United States, 2008, Benjamin Lough

Center for Social Development Research

Over one million individuals reported volunteering internationally in 2008. Young or middle-aged, White, college graduates with higher incomes, employed full-time, and married without dependent children were the most frequent candidates for volunteer service abroad. The majority of international volunteers served with a faith-based organization. Data for this report were gathered from the September 2004 through September 2009 volunteer supplements to the Current Population Survey (CPS)—a monthly survey of approximately 60,000 households. The volunteer supplement includes questions about service performed domestically and abroad. Two items specifically assess the rate and frequency of international volunteer service. More detailed information about sampling, definitions, …

Access To International Volunteering, Amanda Moore Mcbride, Benjamin J. Lough

Center for Social Development Research

This analysis examines rates of international volunteering among various demographic groups in the United States using data from the 2005 Current Population Survey. We use logistic regression analyses to address the importance of inclusion. Those most likely to serve overseas are white, highly educated, young, foreign-born individuals without dependent children in the home and not employed full-time. As a type of volunteering implemented primarily through the nonprofit sector, these findings suggest implications for recruitment and retention of volunteers who serve abroad.

Global Savings, Assets And Financial Inclusion: Lessons, Challenges, And Directions, Jamie M. Zimmerman, Ray Boshara, Michael Sherraden, Li Zou, Kate Mckee, Leslie Meek-Wohl, Amy Feldman

Center for Social Development Research

Global Savings, Assets and Financial Inclusion: Lessons, Challenges, and Directions

Fostering Social Development Through Civic And Political Engagement: How Confidence In Institutions And Agency Matter, Gautam N. Yadama, Natasha Menon

Center for Social Development Research

Traditional approaches in social development have neglected the role of politics, civic engagement, and processes of democratization. This paper empirically tests the extent to which civic engagement and political action are shaped by confidence in state and non-state institutions and political and personal agency. The results underscore the importance of enabling social development through inclusive governance and democratization.

The Forms And Nature Of Civic Service: A Global Assessment, Amanda Moore Mcbride, Carlos Benítez, Michael Sherraden, Kwofie Danso, Beatriz Castaño, Lissa Johnson, Maury Mendenhall, Erica Smulever, Erdenechimeg Tserendorj, Jenny Brav, Lacey Clark

Center for Social Development Research

The Forms and Nature of Civic Service: A Global Assessment