Social Work Commons^™

Household Member Arrest And Adolescent Hopelessness: The Mediating Role Of Future Expectations, Caroline Victoria Begley, Elizabeth Inez Johnson Ph.D, Tanner Kilpatrick M.S

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Developing A Platform For Integrating Disability Issues Into City Municipality Decisions; Case Study: City Of Knoxville, Sravanthi Pamu

Masters Theses

The People with Disabilities (PWD) & Senior Citizen (SC) are isolated from the mainstream society, and they face several barriers in everyday life. There is no communication platform for them to express their concerns, in turn, participate in the city municipality policy decisions related to PWD- & SC-friendly city development. The purpose of this research is to integrate disability and senior citizen issues in the city of Knoxville to the city council decisions. The comprehensive literature search is done to identify the frequently mentioned disability and age-friendly city factors. An effective survey was designed to identify the issues in collaboration …

Mechanisms Of Change In An Organizational Culture And Climate Intervention For Increasing Clinicians’ Evidence-Based Practice Adoption In Mental Health, Nathaniel J. Williams

Doctoral Dissertations

Objective: Increasing the adoption of evidence-based practices (EBPs) is a focus of national and international efforts to improve the quality and outcomes of mental health services for youth; however, few studies have examined the multilevel change mechanisms that explain how successful implementation strategies increase EBP adoption. Identifying these mechanisms is necessary to develop more effective and efficient strategies. This study tested the multilevel mechanisms that link an empirically supported organizational implementation strategy called ARC (for Availability, Responsiveness, and Continuity) to increased EBP adoption.

Method: In a randomized controlled trial, 14 outpatient children’s mental health clinics in a large Midwestern city …

A Phenomenological Study: African American Clergy Response To Violence Against Women, Milicia Antoinette Tedder

Doctoral Dissertations

Violence against women and religious participation are two phenomena that are pervasive across many African American communities. African American women experience intimate partner violence (IPV) at a rate higher than the majority of racial groups in the U.S. Although many African American women highly depend on their faith and church to navigate their experiences with IPV, scant attention has been given to the role that Black clergy have in responding to IPV against women. As a result, clergy leaders’ responses to IPV were examined in this study. This study utilized a phenomenological method to understand African American clergy leaders’ responses …

The Relationship Between Demands And Resources And Teacher Burnout: A Fifteen-Year Meta-Analysis, Tammy Marie Stewart

Doctoral Dissertations

This meta-analysis explored the phenomenon of teacher burnout— the biggest contributor to teacher attrition (Owens, 2013; Unterbrink, 2014; Yu, 2015). The focus of this study was to use meta-analytical procedures to explore the relationship between burnout dimensions (i.e., emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and feelings of personal accomplishment) and specific demand and resource correlates. Demand correlates included work overload, role conflict, role ambiguity, and student misbehavior. Resource correlates included peer support, supervisory support, and decision-making. This meta-analytical research method encompassed fifteen years of published and unpublished studies from January 2000 through January 2015. A total of 116 studies met the following inclusion …

The Relationships Between Internalized Heterosexism, Spirituality, And Mental Health In Lesbian, Gay, And Bisexual Young Adults, Jon Raymond Bourn

Masters Theses

Minority stressors like internalized heterosexism have been found to be related to suicidality among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals (e.g., Savin-Williams & Ream, 2003). Additional research is needed, however, to better understand the factors that may serve as moderators (i.e., protective factors) in the relationships between minority stressors and negative mental health outcomes, such as depression and suicidality (e.g., Szymanski et al., 2008). The current study attempted to examine the relationships between internalized heterosexism and two negative mental health outcomes associated with suicide, psychache (defined as unbearable psychological pain) and depression, in a sample of LGB young adults. Given …

Overseeing Supervisees Treating Clients Exhibiting Suicidal Behaviors: Its Impact On Clinical Supervisors, Michael Girard Catalana

Doctoral Dissertations

Individuals at risk of suicide often seek mental health treatment (Brook, Klap, Liao, & Wells, 2006; Moscicki, 2001; Souminen, Isometsa, Martunnen, Ostamo, & Lonnqvist, 2004). The clinicians who treat these individuals experience significant levels of stress (Knox, Burkard, Bentzler, Schaack, & Hess, 2006; Ruskin, Sakinofsky, Bagby, Dickens, & Sousa, 2004). Clinical supervisors are an important resource for clinicians (Chemtob, Hamada, Bauer, Kinney, & Torigoe, 1988a; Kleespies, Smith, & Becker, 1990; Knox et al., 2006; Maltsberger, 1992; Ruskin et al., 2004). Researchers recently acknowledged that overseeing clinicians whose client exhibited suicidal behavior is also stressful (Catalana, 2012; Hoffman, 2009; Sanger, 2010). …

Characteristics Of Foster Parents Willing To Care For Sexual Minority Youth, Justin Douglas Bucchio

Doctoral Dissertations

Abstract

Sexual minority foster youth living in out-of-home care are in need of enhanced services to promote successful development. Scholars have focused on providing insight into the lives of these youth as well as effective treatment approaches. None have focused on the willingness of the providers of their care. This nationwide non-probability cross-sectional study assessed foster mothers’ (N = 304) willingness to care for sexual minority youth, using secondary data analysis.

Willingness was assessed using the Willingness to Foster Scale (WFS), which identifies four levels of willingness ranging from not willing at all to willing without any extra help …

Evidence Based Practice Implementation: Perceptions And Expectations Of Master Of Social Work Students, Mholi Kent Vimba

Doctoral Dissertations

Abstract

Efforts to develop sustainable Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) implementation strategies in work settings have been generally unsuccessful. Scholars have focused on perceptions of workers already in work settings to identify implementation barriers and facilitators. None have focused on perceptions of social workers in training. This nationwide non-probability correlational study assessed Master of Social Work (MSW) students’ perceptions of EBP using a self-administered online survey. A total of 212 (57%) completed this survey with 164 (43%) timed out.

Perceptions were assessed using three sets of questions corresponding to the independent variables: EBP knowledge, attitude toward EBP and EBP self-efficacy. A …

Listening To Undocumented Mothers: The Experiences Of Undocumented Mexican Mothers Of High School Students Living In The U.S. And Receiving Social Services, Maria Alejandra Lopez

Doctoral Dissertations

The present dissertation is based on a phenomenological study on undocumented Mexican immigrant mothers of high school students who have lived in the U.S. for at least five years and received social services. Most of these mothers have emigrated from rural areas of the central and southern Mexican States of Guanajuato, Michoacan, Queretaro, among others. According to the participants, socio-economic conditions forced them to leave their homelands hoping to find a better life in the U.S.

Ten undocumented mothers of high school students living in the U.S. were interviewed from a phenomenological perspective. They were monolingual Spanish speakers (only one …