Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Emergency Room Use By Undocumented Mexican Immigrants, Ayse Akincigil, Raymond Sanchez Mayers, Fontaine H. Fulghum

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study examined emergency room use by undocumented Mexican immigrants and their sources of health care information. Thirty-eight percent of the respondents reported that they would use a hospital emergency room (ER) for primary medical care. ER use rates declined with time spent in the United States. Emergency room use rates varied significantly by region. Respondents receiving information from a church reported less ER use, compared to all others; respondents receiving information from U.S. newspapers reported higher ER use rates. Lack of health care access for undocumented immigrants remains a public health issue as well as a social justice concern.

Health Service Access For Rural People Living With Hiv/Aids In China: A Critical Evaluation, Xiying Wang, Xiulan Zhang, Yuebin Xu, Yurong Zhang

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The increasingly serious HIV/AIDS epidemic creates a significant burden for the public health system; however, little attention has been paid to the issue of health service access in rural China. Based on a qualitative study of 34 Chinese rural People Living with HIVIAIDS (PLWHA) and 13 health providers, this study fills a gap by examining health service access from both the demand and supply-side. Utilizing access theory, this study explores the availability, affordability and acceptability of health services in rural China. Moreover, this study focuses on access barriers and institutional obstacles that PLWHA meet during their illness and considers the …

Implementation Of The 2009 Cacrep Standards Addiction Competencies, Tiffany K. Lee

Dissertations

Addiction issues have been and continue to be significant problems affecting the United States. Over the past few decades, substantial scholarly attention has been paid to the lack of addictions training in the counseling profession. The purposes of this mixed-method study were to examine the current status of addiction training among institutions that offer counselor education programs accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) and determine how institutions plan to integrate the addiction-related competencies outlined in the 2009 CACREP standards.

The quantitative data were obtained from a 15-item online survey completed by 74 CACREP …

The Differentiated Impact Of Bridging And Bonding Social Capital On Economic Well-Being: An Individual Level Perspective, Saijun Zhang, Steven. G. Anderson, Min Zhan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Social capital refers to trust, norms, and social networks. One of the most important features of social capital is its claimed capacity of promoting economic well-being. Theorists have assumed that any such effects vary according to the nature of different types of social capital. Using longitudinal data from a nationally representative dataset, this study investigates the differentiated effects of individual bonding and bridging social capital on subsequent personal income and income-to-needs ratios. The analyses demonstrate that bridging capital, indicated by involvement in various voluntary organizations, has small but significant effects on future economic wellbeing. However, bonding capital, indicated by connections …

Evaluation Of Verbal Behavior In Older Adults, Amy Gross

Dissertations

Older adults make up a large and increasing portion of the population (U.S. apply those assessments to the evaluation of verbal behavior in older adults with and without dementia. The research addressed two questions. First, in what way do verbal behavior problems differ between older adults with and without dementia? Second, does language deteriorate in a pattern compatible with Skinner's analysis of functionally independent verbal operants? Thirty-one participants were categorized into Control (n=15) and Dementia (n=16) Groups based on their score on the Dementia Rating Scale-2. Verbal behavior assessments were administered to participants on two occasions, separated by one week. …

Living With Bipolar Disorder: A Qualitative Investigation, Richard P. Freedberg

Dissertations

The specific aims of this study were to gain a broader understanding of the lived experience of adults with bipolar disorder and to explore how people diagnosed with bipolar disorder used cognitively, affectively, and spiritually oriented strategies to cope with life stressors and circumstances. The cognitive domain in this investigation was defined as those activities related to how one knows, thinks, or perceives phenomena in a way distinct from emotion. The affective domain referred to the feelings and emotions associated with phenomena that are distinct from cognitive reasoning or knowledge. The spiritual domain was defined as values, attitudes, and beliefs …

Memory And Language: Evidence Of Relationships From Three Studies Of School-Age Children, Michele A. Anderson

Dissertations

The purpose of this three-paper dissertation was to explore the relationship between performance on verbal memory and language assessment tasks in school-age children. Study one used data from whole-class administration of three language assessment tasks to 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 9th graders (N= 187). Studies two and three used data from individualized administration of language assessment and verbal memory tasks to comparable samples of children between the ages of 6 and 18 years with typical language (TL) and language impairment (LI) (n = 37 per group).

The first study addressed practical and theoretical questions regarding memory and language demands of …

Exploring The Well-Being Of Foster Children Of Parents With Substance Abuse Problems In Family Dependency Treatment Courts, Barbara M. Howes

Dissertations

The aim of this three-paper format dissertation is to explore how the well-being of foster children of parents with substance abuse problems is defined and promoted through Family Dependency Treatment Courts (FDTC) within the context of the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA). The benefit to the author of the three-paper method is the task of submitting the findings of the study for publication is eased as the dissertation contains three stand-alone articles. A drawback for the reader of the three paper method is that there is redundancy in reading the same sections in each paper. The reader is encouraged …

The Picture Exchange Communication System: Digital Photographs Versus Picture Symbols, Carmen Jonaitis

Dissertations

The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is an augmentative and alternative system (AAC) used to improve and increase communication for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other developmental disorders. Research addressing the efficacy of this system is increasing; however, there is limited information published that evaluates the picture type used for PECS instruction. A single-subject alternating treatments design was used to examine the role of iconicity, or how closely a symbol resembles its referent, in the acquisition of picture discrimination in the third phase of PECS. The purpose of this study was to compare how well children were able …

Exploring The Experiences Of Living With A Controversial Illness In Patients With Fibromyalgia, Samantha L. Wheeler

Dissertations

Fibromyalgia is an illness of great controversy estimated to affect approximately 4% of the US population. There are no widely accepted etiological causes or clear physiological explanations of fibromyalgia. Only a few research studies have addressed the concept of illness uncertainty in patients with fibromyalgia. There are no current studies that examine how fibromyalgia patients experience, perceive, and understand their illness in terms of having a syndrome with an unknown etiology.

This qualitative study, using phenomenological methods, explored the concept of unknown etiology as one factor in illness uncertainty. Ten participants, diagnosed with fibromyalgia from 2-15 years were interviewed. The …

Latina Women’S Reasons For And Experience Of Sexual Assault Disclosure: A Qualitative Investigation, Melissa Villarreal

Dissertations

This study describes Latina women’s experiences of sexual assault disclosure. The research questions are: (1) What reasons do Latinas give for choosing to disclose, not to disclose, or to delay disclosure of their experiences of sexual assault? (2) Can patterns be detected regarding to whom Latinas disclose and under what circumstances? (3) What feelings and consequences do Latinas remember experiencing during their initial disclosure? (4) In retrospect, how do Latinas interpret their self-disclosure decisions? Participants for this study agreed to be interviewed about their sexual assault experiences. Seven interviews were gathered in 2005 and six in 2011. A constant comparison …

Effectiveness Of A Motivational Enhancement Group Treatment In A Community Treatment Program With A Substance Abusing Population, Matthew S. Willerick

Dissertations

Motivational interviewing (MI) is a directive, client-centered intervention to elicit behavior change by assisting clients in the exploration and resolution of ambivalence toward change. MI-inspired approaches have been used in an attempt to facilitate change in a wide variety of domains including alcohol and drug abuse, safe water handling practices, dual diagnoses, gambling, spousal abuse, health related areas, mood and anxiety disorders, and parental engagement. MI seeks to resolve ambivalence in the direction of change by increasing the client's self-efficacy. This is accomplished by combining clientcentered (e.g., reflective listening) and directive strategies (e.g., attending selectively to change statements). The origins …

Clinical Social Work And The Biomedical Industrial Complex, Tomi Gomory, Stephen E. Wong, David Cohen, Jeffrey R. Lacasse

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article examines how the biomedical industrial complex has ensnared social work within a foreign conceptual and practice model that distracts clinical social workers from the special assistance that they can provide for people with mental distress and misbehavior. We discuss: (1) social work's assimilation of psychiatric perspectives and practices during its pursuit of professional status; (2) the persistence of psychiatric hospitalization despite its coercive methods, high cost, and doubtful efficacy; (3) the increasing reliance on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, despite its widely acknowledged scientific frailty; and (4) the questionable contributions of psychoactive drugs to clinical …