Digital Commons Network^™

Navigating The Shadows: Intersecting The Undocumented And Undocuqueer Identities, Iriana Balbian

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This project analyzes the navigation of social experiences of Undocumented and Queer individuals amidst broad anti-queer and anti-immigration sentiment prevalent throughout American society. To achieve this goal, this project seeks to resolve three questions. First, what are the social services that Undocuqueer and Undocumented adults need? Second, are their needs fundamentally distinct? Finally, to what extent have they been able to access those services? Crenshaw’s (1994) theory of intersectionality will serve as the overarching theoretical framework of this project, in order to better understand the multifaceted marginalization that Undocumented and Undocuqueer individuals face with everyday institutions.

In this research, I …

Social Workers’ Perceptions On The Usefulness Of The Structured Decision-Making Tool In Assessing Safety And Risk, Chinwe Erika Nwufo, Carol Yareli Castillo

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

In child welfare agencies, the Structured Decision-Making (SDM) Safety and Risk Assessment tools are utilized to support social workers in assessing families and make informed decisions while investigating child abuse and neglect. In the past, numerous studies have evaluated the strengths and weaknesses the SDM safety and risk assessment tools; however, studies have neglected social workers’ perspectives on using the tools during their investigations.

Using a quantitative approach, this study examines social workers’ perceptions on the usefulness of the SDM safety and risk assessment tools during their investigations. IS social work participants from one California county agency completed an online …

Empowering The Female Offender: Barriers And Perceptions Of Inmate Success, Joanna Delgado, Karina Barragan

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The study explored current organizational barriers and gaps in service delivery to incarcerated women to examine whether current services are meeting the needs of this population. The study is relevant to the social work profession due to a high likelihood of social service needs found amongst this population and their families within the community. Barriers to success were identified through the perspective of service providers (BSW, MSW, LCSW, LMFT’s) with current and/or past experience working with this population. Current service provisions in correctional facilities were examined to determine barriers or gaps in services in four key areas: communication, parenting services, …

Mental Health Services For Single Homeless Mothers With Children, Andrea Zermeno, Maria Alejandra Perez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Single mothers with young children living in poverty often experience various disadvantages, especially when they have mental health issues. They are a vulnerable population and face challenges such as poverty, homelessness, and low paying jobs. Homeless mothers and their children often have difficulty in finding means to survive and obtaining basic needs. The purpose of this study was to explore the quality and availability of mental health resources to homeless mother and their children. Ten participants were chosen outside of a homeless shelter in the City of Riverside. The study was a qualitative design conducted through face-to-face interviews.

This study …

Foster Youths’ Perceptions Of The Social Worker’S Role In Their Pursuit Of Higher Education, Elisa Elvira Sequeira Delgado, Anedia Suarez Arroyo

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The majority of youth transitioning from foster care to adulthood aspire to achieve a higher education, yet they often face barriers and lack a support system. In the United States, only 50% of foster youth graduate from high school. About 13% of foster youth enter college and only 3% graduate. The purpose of this study is to assess foster youths’ perceptions on the social worker’s role when pursuing higher education. The literature suggests that child welfare agencies have developed a variety of programs for foster youth and for their social workers aimed at improving foster youth’s educational outcomes. Yet, the …

Active Shooter Preparedness Training, Clarissa Welch, Nancy Villalta

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This research study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of an Active Shooter Incident (ASI) training implemented at Southern California University (SCU). The purpose of this study was to assess students’ level of preparedness, anxiety, and knowledge about ASIs. Prior to collecting the data, an officer from the University Police Department (UPD) provided an ASI training for students where they were able to learn about safety procedures. Data was collected from a sample of Bachelor and Master level students within the SCU School of Social Work Department. Participants were given a questionnaire that consisted of questions regarding students’ level …

Family Structure Corresponding With Delinquent Behaviors, Miranda Santiago, Shirley Tamayo-Contreras

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The significance of this research study is to identify if an adolescences family structure impacts their developmental behaviors. The research design for this study was a quantitative design. The data analysis includes the independent variable (IV) and dependent variable (DV). For this study the IV was family structure and the DV in this study was delinquent behaviors. The findings suggest that during the pre-assessment tool researchers found there was no significance between family structure and delinquent behaviors. However, during the post assessment researchers found that there was significance between family structure and delinquent behavior. Although this study did not find …

Understanding Implicit Bias In Public Defender Social Workers, Jess Laird

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Research has demonstrated that implicit bias is an inescapable part of the human experience that can have harmful repercussions. Its effects can be seen particularly in the criminal justice system where those of marginalized groups are disproportionately represented. Social workers in the public defender’s office representing indigent clients in the criminal justice system, implicit bias can negatively impact client outcomes or service access. This study sought to explore how these social workers understand implicit bias in their work and will be conducted using qualitative analysis through the use of interviews and document review. This research found that social workers in …

Protective Factors Of Academic Resiliency, Guadalupe Valdivia

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Numerous studies had explored wide-ranging effects of childhood adversity. Yet, there is no known study that explores the impact of non-parental relationships (NPR) formed during the participation in out-of-school youth activities (OSYA), and future orientation (FO) on academic resiliency (AR) among people with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). This study moved away from the deficit perspective and focused on the strengths of individuals rather than weaknesses. The study examined the impact of protective factors of OSYA, NPR, and FO using the Michael Ungar’s (2011) Socio-Ecological Model of Resiliency to better understand their role on AR among university students with ACEs. A …

Incarcerated Mothers Achieving Reunification: Providing Support To Child Welfare Social Workers, Francesca Villarreal

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This project explores the barriers to reunification with their children for incarcerated mothers in an effort to provide more support to child welfare social workers who engage with this population. Project participants were selected from one regional office of a child welfare agency in Southern California to complete qualitative interviews. Participants included seven Social Service Practitioners (SSPs), two Supervising Social Service Practitioners (SSSPs), and one Data Analysist. Each participant’s interview was digitally recorded, transcribed, and analyzed following the systematic manual coding method with the assistance of Microsoft Word (Ose, S, 2016). Five common barriers were identified: child visitations with incarcerated …

Childhood Risk Factors That Impact The Likelihood Of Becoming A Victim Of Domestic Violence, Mallory Ann Gers, Daniela Paola Gomez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The purpose of this research project was to identify risk factors for becoming a victim of domestic violence. Demographic and qualitative data were collected through in-person interviews with 8 female survivors of domestic violence from San Bernardino County. These interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed to determine risk factors that could lead women to becoming a victim of domestic violence and what helped them get out of their relationships. The use of interviews allowed the researchers to connect with the survivors and gain in-depth information about their experiences.

Using content analysis, the following themes arose: risk factors that involved absent …

Exploring Knowledge In Sexual Assault Prevention Programs, Pammeli M. Carlos

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Campus sexual assault is a prominent social problem that has gained traction within recent years. It is prevalent among college students, with 26.1% women and 6.1% of men reporting experiencing an attempted or completed rape at some point during their college career (Graham et al., 2017). The purpose of this study is to help college students define and understand rape and consent to potentially lower sexual assault incidents. A quantitative research design was utilized with this research study. The study design used an online self-administered survey, with measures from established questionnaires and surveys. Towards the end of the survey, research …

Parent Partners Contribution To Reunification Rates, Marilyn Obispo, Cynthia Cuevas

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The following research study aimed to discover the relationships and contributions that parent partners have in the reunification process of parents and children within the child welfare system. The study utilized a quantitative secondary data analysis design and the data were obtained from a Southern California Children and Family Services agency within the CWS/CMS database, as well as the parent partner database. Data were analyzed through SPSS software and descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were conducted to describe and assess the variables of interest. A total of 296 participants were used in the study and the majority of parents (73%) …