Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Community Organizing In Rural Areas: Yes, It's Different, Paul Force-Emery Mackie

Social Work Department Publications

This presentation focuses on the theory and practice of community organizing in rural areas. Special attention will be placed on how different organizing practices may be received based on rural cultural norms.

Effective Preventative Interventions Of Substance Use, Amanda Logan

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

Substance use among adolescents remains a serious problem in most rural communities in part due to the well-documented failure of most prevention programs. Despite these challenges some prevention programs have been deemed both reliable and valid. Three such programs include the:

Adolescent Transitions Program, Strengthening Families Program: For Parents and Youth 10-14, and Guiding Good Choices. This paper provides a systemic review of these three programs and offers suggestions to community leaders for successful program implementation.

Boundaries, Hospice And Rural Communities: Social Workers’ Perspective, Haylee Erin Spronk

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

In the past years, the utilization of hospice has increased greatly from previous years and is expected to only increase. This increase is not only found in urban communities but in rural communities as well. Previous research exemplifies that professional boundaries can be different in rural communities than in urban communities. This research set out to explore how rural hospice social workers maintain professional boundaries through eight (n=8) semi-structured interviews. The findings, developed through an open-coding process, included the following themes: the rural community and the grocery store experience, maintaining professional boundaries, and methods to helping professional boundaries …

Journeys After Childhood Sexual Abuse: A Phenomenological Study In A Frontier Region, Brittany Wienholz

Brittany R Wienholz

About 10% of the U.S population will experience child sexual abuse. This paper presentation will review the literature regarding survivors’ healing journeys and a qualitative research study design that utilizes feminist theory in order to promote justice for oppressed groups. Preliminary findings from the study will be presented.

Journeys After Childhood Sexual Abuse: A Phenomenological Study In A Frontier Region, Brittany R. Wienholz

Brittany R Wienholz

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a pervasive form of interpersonal trauma affecting about 10% of the U.S. population. Like other forms of interpersonal trauma, sexual abuse during childhood has been associated with detrimental effects on survivors’ well being. This exploratory phenomenological study utilized open-ended interviews with nine adults, ages 21 and older, to gain a deeper understanding of survivors’ journeys after CSA in a western frontier region of the United States. Themes within survivor narratives will be analyzed from an ecological systems perspective, providing insight to professionals, benefits to survivors and implications for future research.

Ethical Guidelines For Social Work Supervisors In Rural Settings, Elizabeth T. Blue, Ann M. Kutzler, Suzanne Macron-Fuller

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Little research literature exists integrating ethics, supervision, and rural/small community practice. This paper reports results of a study conducted by a joint student-faculty team. The study engaged supervisors in rural and small communities in two Midwestern states in semi-structured interviews. Interview data were then used to develop guidelines for BSW students about what constitutes ethical supervisory practice in rural environments.

“They Can Only Do So Much:” Use Of Family While Coping With Rural Homelessness, Deanna L. Trella, Timothy P. Hilton

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

This research explores individual and family reliance on non-homeless family members in coping with homelessness in a rural area. Drawing on 114 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with homeless adults and families in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, we found that almost all participants relied on non-homeless family members for assistance, but with variation in the amount of help sought and received. Some participants displayed high thresholds for help-seeking, only relying on family under extreme circumstances and generally asking for modest assistance. This was common among childless single homeless adults who often had different support. Other participants displayed low thresholds for help-seeking, frequently asking …

Intersectional Exposures: Exploring The Health Effect Of Employment With Kaajal Immigrant/Refugee Women In Grand Erie Through Photovoice, Bharati Sethi Ms

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of this community-based participatory research was to understand the employment-health association for immigrant/refugee women from Korea, Asia, Africa, Japan, Arab world and Latin America (KAAJAL) in Grand Erie –a mid-sized urban/rural region in Ontario, Canada. The study utilized photovoice –a visual qualitative research methodology in which participants were given cameras to record their experiences. Intersectionality analysis of 525 participant-generated photographs, diaries, and in-depth interviews of twenty women revealed that various markers of difference such as nationality (i.e. native or foreign-born), immigrant status (i.e. family class sponsorship), geography (i.e. rural or urban residence), …