Social Work Commons^™

Mental Health And Its Wicked Factors, Michael Schuler

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

Mental health has long since been an issue in not just our society, but worldwide. While it is difficult to determine exactly what factors affect mental health, there has been significant research done within the past 30 years to show that major factors that affect mental health can be mitigated. Things such as poverty, physical health, and community outreach can all be linked to mental health issues. There are some solutions that will mitigate these factors that can be explored. These solutions can include things like raising awareness for mental illnesses in order to reduce stigma, getting more mental health …

Colon Cancer Care Of Hispanic People In California: Paradoxical Barrio Protections Seem Greatest Among Vulnerable Populations, Keren M. Escobar, Mollie Sivaram, Kevin M. Gorey, Isaac N. Luginaah, Sindu M. Kanjeekal, Frances C. Wright

Social Work Publications

Background: We examined paradoxical and barrio advantaging effects on cancer care among socioeconomically vulnerable Hispanic people in California. Methods: We secondarily analyzed a colon cancer cohort of 3,877 non-Hispanic white (NHW) and 735 Hispanic people treated between 1995 and 2005. A third of the cohort was selected from high poverty neighborhoods. Hispanic enclaves and Mexican American (MA) barrios were neighborhoods where 40% or more of the residents were Hispanic or MA. Key analyses were restricted to high poverty neighborhoods. Results: Hispanic people were more likely to receive chemotherapy (RR=1.18), especially men in Hispanic enclaves (RR=1.33) who were also advantaged on …

Breast Cancer Care In California And Ontario: Primary Care Protections Greatest Among The Most Socioeconomically Vulnerable Women Living In The Most Underserved Places, Kevin M. Gorey, Caroline Hamm, Isaac N. Luginaah, Guangyong Zou, Eric J. Holowaty

Social Work Publications

Background: Better health care among Canada’s socioeconomically vulnerable versus America’s has not been fully explained. We examined the effects of poverty, health insurance and the supply of primary care physicians on breast cancer care. Methods: We analyzed breast cancer data in Ontario (n = 950) and California (n = 6300) between 1996 and 2000 and followed until 2014. We obtained socioeconomic data from censuses, oversampling the poor. We obtained data on the supply of physicians, primary care and specialists. The optimal care criterion was being diagnosed early with node negative disease and received breast conserving surgery followed by adjuvant radiation …

Ending Poverty In Mongolia: From Socialism To Social Development, Richard J. Smith

Social Work Faculty Publications

While recent literature on social welfare has included Asian countries, less is known about low-income and former socialist countries in Central Asia. This article combines a documentary-historical method with a value-critical approach to analyze Mongolia’s social policy response to poverty. Mongolia is unique in Asia because it transformed from nomadic pastoralism to socialism without a phase of capitalist industrial development. The case study found that Mongolia lost social welfare when it transitioned from socialism, a statist model, to market liberalism and multiparty democracy. In the 21st century, Mongolia has been aspiring to promote social development by redirecting mining revenues to …

Milking The System: Do Poor People Deserve Fresh Food?, Melanie M. Meisenheimer

SURGE

Poor Americans are all lazy, selfish people who must first prove their worth as human beings if they want to be able to feed their children.

It sounds harsh, stereotypical, and judgmental when you put it like that, and few people would feel comfortable saying that exact phrase. However, it’s a perception of poverty in America that I’ve found still has a strong grip on our way of thinking. [excerpt]

A Bottom-Up Definition Of Self-Sufficiency: Voices From Low-Income Jobseekers., Philip Young P. Hong, Vamadu A. Sheriff, Sandra R. Naeger

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

Self-sufficiency (SS) is the epitome of America’s ‘reluctant’welfare state. It is generally accepted in social welfare policycircles as a concept related to independence and financialstability. Nevertheless, SS is not a term agreed upon inpractice by policymakers, researchers, or service providersand is frequently used without a clear common definition.In this sense, the purpose of this study is to explore the extentto which the top-down definition of ‘economic’ SS as thesocial policy goal is consistent with how the clients of job training programs perceive the term. Using a groundedtheory approach, a bottom-up definition of SS was derivedfrom a focus group of low-income …

The Living-Wage Movement: Potential Implications For The Working Poor, Fred Brooks

SW Publications

No abstract provided.

Party Politics And The Poor: A Research Note, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Following the “rediscovery” of poverty in the Kennedy years (1960-1963) and the initiation of the Johnson-era (1968-1968) War on Poverty, there has been much interest in the social sciences on the question of the relationship between poverty and politics in American society. One of the most interesting hypothesis in recent research is the suggestion of a correlation between welfare payment levels in various states and the level of inter-party competition in those states. If this is the case, there is a strong case that citizens are being treated differently by their government in violation of the equal protection clause of …