Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Western Michigan University

2003

Mental and Social Health

Articles 1 - 8 of 8

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Resiliency Factors Related To Substance Use/Resistance: Perceptions Of Native Adolescents Of The Southwest, Margaret A. Waller, Scott K. Okamoto, Bart Miles, Donna E. Hurdle Dec 2003

Resiliency Factors Related To Substance Use/Resistance: Perceptions Of Native Adolescents Of The Southwest, Margaret A. Waller, Scott K. Okamoto, Bart Miles, Donna E. Hurdle

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This exploratory, qualitative study examined risk and protective factors influencing drug and alcohol use and/or resistance of Native youth in the Southwest. Thirty-two Native middle school students participated in 10 focus groups that explored their experiences with alcohol and drugs in their school and reservation communities. The findings indicate a complex interaction of both risk and protective factors related to substance use. Respondents' cousins and siblings, in particular, played a key role in their decisions to use or resist drugs. Implications for social work practice are discussed.


The Lived Experience Of Welfare Reform In Drug-Using Welfare-Needy Households In Inner-City New York, Eloise Dunlap, Andrew Golub, Bruce D. Johnson Sep 2003

The Lived Experience Of Welfare Reform In Drug-Using Welfare-Needy Households In Inner-City New York, Eloise Dunlap, Andrew Golub, Bruce D. Johnson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Welfare reform has transformed a needs-based family income support into temporary assistance for persons entering the workforce. This paper uses observations from an ethnographic study covering the period from 1995- 2001 to examine the impact on drug-using welfare-needy households in inner-city New York. The analysis suggests that studies may underestimate the extent to which substance use is associated with welfare problems. Nearly all of these already distressed households lost their AFDC/TANF benefits, had difficulty with work programs, and were having more difficulty covering expenses. The conclusion highlights ways to better study this population and policy initiatives that could help them …


The Social Problem Of Depression: A Multi-Theoretical Analysis, Rich Furman, Kimberly Bender Sep 2003

The Social Problem Of Depression: A Multi-Theoretical Analysis, Rich Furman, Kimberly Bender

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the social problem of depression from a multi-theoretical perspective. It explores depression through the lens of two psychologically based theories of human behavior, existential theory and cognitive theory, as well as through the vehicle of two sociological theories, Marxist theory and the theory of oppression. By understanding how each of these theories explains depression, social workers may be helped to see the complexity of treating the problem. It is the belief of the authors that social work literature, which is often dominated by reductionist, quantitativelybased research studies, has increasingly ignored theoretical explorations …


An Evaluation Of Methylphenidate Preference In Adults Diagnosed With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Emily Kathleen Macdonald Jun 2003

An Evaluation Of Methylphenidate Preference In Adults Diagnosed With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Emily Kathleen Macdonald

Dissertations

Methylphenidate (MPH) is widely used in the treatment of ADHD, and is associated with positive effects across a wide range of domains. In spite of the clinical effectiveness of MPH, concern has arisen with respect to its abuse potential. The present study examined the reinforcing effects and participant-rated effects of MPH in adults diagnosed with ADHD. Participants included 10 volunteers (ages 18-22) diagnosed with ADHD who were receiving MPH treatment. The reinforcing effects were assessed using a double-blind choice procedure with 4 sampling and 8 choice sessions. During sampling sessions, participants completed a self-report questionnaire before receiving either placebo or …


The First Four Months In A New Foster Placement: Psychosocial Adjustment, Parental Contact And Placement Disruption, James G. Barber, Paul H. Delfabbro Jun 2003

The First Four Months In A New Foster Placement: Psychosocial Adjustment, Parental Contact And Placement Disruption, James G. Barber, Paul H. Delfabbro

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Intake and four-month follow-up measures were obtained for 235 children referred into a new foster care placement over a 12-month period in the Australian State of South Australia. Twenty-five percent of the sample returned home within 4-months, and for those who remained in care throughout, there had been modest gains in behavior, psychological adjustment and adjustment at school. On the other hand, there were considerable levels of placement disruption, a high degree of non-compliance with parental visiting plans, and a high proportion of children fell outside ninety-five percent confidence intervals for the general adolescent population on most well-being measures, particularly …


Review Of The Environment: Its Role In Psychosocial Functioning And Psychotherapy. Carolyn Saari. Reviewed By Timothy Page., Timothy Page Jun 2003

Review Of The Environment: Its Role In Psychosocial Functioning And Psychotherapy. Carolyn Saari. Reviewed By Timothy Page., Timothy Page

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Carolyn Saari, The Environment: Its Role in Psychosocial Functioning and Psychotherapy. New York: Columbia University Press, 2002. $49.50 hardcover, $22.00 papercover.


"Are You Beginning To See A Pattern Here?" Family And Medical Discourses Shape The Story Of Black Infant Mortality, Elaine R. Cleeton Mar 2003

"Are You Beginning To See A Pattern Here?" Family And Medical Discourses Shape The Story Of Black Infant Mortality, Elaine R. Cleeton

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Postmodern and poststructuralist theorizations of the interrelations of the particular and the universal have identified women's bodies to be the last frontier for scientific discovery leading to and satisfying the modern compulsion to stabilize and control life from birth to death. This institutional ethnography of one city's response to an elevated infant mortality rate among the babies of African American urban, impoverished women explores their discursive transformation from single mothers who cannot begin prenatal care before the second trimester because too few physicians will treat Medicaid patients, into sexually-immoral, illegaldrug- using women who deliberately harm their babies. The study locates …


A Child's Death: Lessons From Health Care Providers' Texts, Nancy M. Bell, Marie L. Campbell Mar 2003

A Child's Death: Lessons From Health Care Providers' Texts, Nancy M. Bell, Marie L. Campbell

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article originates from a research study that explores 'what happened' to a 10-year-old child with Rett syndrome, who died from "severe malnutrition" according to a Coroners Service inquest jury. The inquest evidence analyzed, using institutional ethnography, shows that approximately one week prior to this child's death three health care providers (an emergency physician, a hospice volunteer and a home care nurse) conducted individual assessments of the child. Child protection workers were also involved. Textual analysis of the health care providers' records shows how the child was officially and textually constructed as 'dying from a terminal illness' in contrast to …