Social Work Commons^™

Investigating The Level Of Evidence Of Adverse Childhood Experiences And Parenting Practices: A Systematic Review, Eloisa Deshazer

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with mental and physical health outcomes of children, but less is known about how ACEs impact parenting. Objective: This study systematically reviewed the evidence of the association between parental adverse childhood experiences and parenting behaviors. Methods: The study employed a rigorous methodology, including searching several electronic databases, such as the CSUSB search engine, EBSCOhost Academic Search Premiere, PsycINFO, PubMed, and ScienceDirect. The keywords used for the search process included Adverse Childhood Experiences, ACEs, Maltreatment, Adverse Experiences, Traumatic Experiences, and Parenting or Childrearing. Inclusion criteria were restricted to studies published between 2014 and …

Incarceration Effects On Children And Families, Sharon Rose

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Children of incarcerated parents have been found to experience long-term trauma as an effect of parental incarceration. There is little information regarding resources and programs available to these children to mitigate these issues. This study aims to identify recurring themes experienced by children and families separated by incarceration which cause negative long-term issues. The study will identify these overlaps and identify plans that can be implemented by social service agencies to alleviate and diminish the rates at which children are affected by incarceration. The researcher will conduct individual interviews with participants to complete an exploratory cross-sectional study. Data gathered from …

The Association Between Adverse Childhood Experiences And Gang Membership, Johanna Ulloa

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Background and Purpose: Youth gang membership is on the rise and has become a significant problem within communities and has led to serious consequences, such as high degrees of delinquency and homicide. Prior research has proposed that history of exposure to childhood trauma is a significant risk factor. Objective:This study examined the association between adverse childhood experiences and gang involvement. Methods: This research was a cross-sectional observational study used to gather quantitative data, using a non-random sampling strategy. Participants for this study included adults (i.e., 18 years or older) within the general population, who were literate in English and …

The Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Experiences And Resilience In Social Work, Margeaux Wilkins, Jazmine Salazar

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

High turnover rates continue to plague the field of social work highlighting the need for a new approach. This mixed-method study explores the relationship between the adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) of social workers and their resilience in the field. Quantitative data was gathered from an online survey including demographic information and social workers’ ACEs scores. Qualitative data was gathered from interviews relating to social workers’ resilience and coping mechanisms employed in the field. The quantitative data was analyzed for any correlations and patterns based on demographic information. A thematic analysis was completed to identify common themes and points of discussion …

Social Workers’ Knowledge And Preparedness In Serving Clients With Experience Of Intergenerational Trauma, Geneva Gandelman

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This research study explored intergenerational trauma and self-assessed competency levels of social workers who serve clients experiencing possible intergenerational trauma. Intergenerational trauma is a wide-spread issue, as it affects over a quarter of children and over half of adults in the United States. Intergenerational trauma, though affecting many clients, is not often discussed, and many mental health professionals are either uninformed on this topic or not interested. This study explored social workers’ self-assessed general knowledge of intergenerational trauma, training on intergenerational trauma, and whether they have knowledge of interventions or techniques tailored to working with families and individuals with possible …

Secondary Trauma And/Or Potential Impacts Related To Military Family Members, Andressa Young

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Military members who have experienced combat deployments are at a greater risk for mental health issues. This can often affect the families who are placed in the role of being a buffer for these returning military members. Furthermore, the prevalence of mental health issues within the military community being at an all-time high has created a parallel prevalence for the family members who are impacted by these military members dealing with mental health issues. This research project examined data and information that was collected both from individual military family members and from persons who directly provide supportive services to military …

Unifying Is Medicine: Providing Holistic Treatments For Substance Use And Truama, Dulce Virginia Leguizamo, Erika Zemmol

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The focus of this qualitative, exploratory research project will be holistic treatments for clients with trauma and substance use. The researchers hypothesize that some of the most effective treatments incorporate the five virtues of compassion, cultural sensitivity, community, competency, and client-centeredness. Another important element which these researchers have identified is honoring the mind-body-spirit connection in helping clients heal from trauma and substance use. These researchers conceptualize an effective treatment for clients with trauma and substance use as what we call The Medicine of Unifying. Incorporating the five virtues, we hypothesize that The Medicine of Unifying can be achieved by uniting …

Professional Quality Of Life Of Mental Health Practitioners Doing Trauma Work, Ashley Larios, Ana Campos Chagolla

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

A practitioner’s reaction to client trauma can have both positive and negative impacts on the individual’s professional quality of life as well as the quality of services provided to the client. Professional quality of life embodies a practitioner’s compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue, burnout, and vicarious trauma. While past research has focused on factors that negatively impact professional quality of life, the proposed research aimed to explore what individual and agency factors help to positively increase professional quality of life. The study utilized a mixed methods approach, which included the participants scores on the Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL) as …

Adverse Childhood Experiences And Adult Substance Use, Mariah Garcia, Melissa Berry

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study sets out to contribute to the already existing data on ACEs as well as substance use in adulthood. In this quantitative descriptive study, the researchers addressed the relationship of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and adult substance use. Psychological, physical, and cognitive health issues may occur in adulthood due to ACEs (Shin et al., 2017). Being exposed to one or more ACE during childhood can cause poor coping skills and result in adult substance use (Shin et al., 2017). Bringing greater attention to the prevalence of ACEs can help social workers create more sensitive assessments, screening tools, and treatment …

The Experience Of Trauma And Psychological And Behavioral Problems In Adult Children Of Alcoholics, Yulissa Acosta

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

One in five adult Americans grew up with an alcoholic in their household whether it may be their father, mother, relative, or guardian. There are substantial risk factors associated with living with an alcoholic and being a child of an alcoholic. The trauma experienced by adult children of alcoholics (ACOA) and their development of psychological and behavioral problems were investigated in this research study. Individuals who were 18 years and older and has at least one parent or guardian that was an alcoholic were interviewed regarding their childhood life of growing up in an alcoholic household and what barriers or …

Social Work Graduate Students Self-Reported Knowledge Of Treatment Options For Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Kerry Morgan

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Students who study to obtain the Master of Social Work (MSW) degree will undoubtedly serve clients with histories of family violence, chronic or terminal illness, immigration, racism, mass violence/terrorism, or even natural disasters. With the theme of trauma being ever prevalent in their internships and work, it is important to consider the perceptions that MSW Students have about PTSD treatment modalities and exploring their interests in expanding their knowledge about PTSD. A selection of MSW students were asked questions about their knowledge and interest in treatment options for PTSD. The results showed a diverse variation of knowledge for the seven …

Eating Disorder Treatment: What Former Patients Attribute To Their Personal Recovery, Wendy Ingram

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the personal experience of people who have an eating disorder with a specific focus on what they attributed to their recovery. Eating disorders are a mental illness that affect one in 20 people. Thus, this prevalence coupled with a lack of significant research about eating disorders in the field of social work uncovered the need for this study.

Qualitative interviews were completed with five female students from a university in California. Each transcript was coded using conventional content analysis to uncover themes and subthemes, which included barriers to recovery, the need to …

Social Worker Perceptions Of Animal Assisted Therapy For Children With Trauma Histories, Tessa Hodge

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Untreated trauma can have significant lifelong negative impacts on children including poor emotional and mental health, social difficulties, poor physical health, juvenile delinquency, adult criminality, and substance abuse. Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) utilizes animals, typically dogs or horses, in goal-oriented treatment plans, and AAT has been found to be an effective treatment for trauma exposure and post-traumatic stress disorder, especially in children. Social workers working with children who have child welfare involvement are often responsible for services referrals, treatment plans, case plans, and direct provision of services. Current research does not address if the social workers responsible for referring children …

Childhood Trauma Within The Child Welfare System, Valarie Schulz, Angelica Bautista

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Childhood trauma among children in foster care is a major concern in the child welfare system and its impacts often go unaddressed. The purpose of this study was to gain knowledge from a social worker’s view on early trauma intervention for children in foster care and their successful transition into adulthood. This study used an exploratory qualitative method to collect data through face-to-face interviews with 7 social workers who have experience working with foster children. This approach gained participant’s unique insights pertaining to their experiences working with children impacted by childhood trauma.

Data obtained from this study identified early trauma …

After The Attack: Police Perspectives On Promoting Resiliency Following The 2015 San Bernardino Attack, Hannah Patricia Capps

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to provide an exploration of the experiences and perceptions of law enforcement officers who responded to the December 2^nd, 2015 San Bernardino Attacks, specifically addressing what interventions and factors they found helpful in promoting their well-being following the attack. To do this, eight semi-structured interviews were held with officers who either were involved in the scene at the Inland Regional Center or were involved in the shoot-out with the attackers later that day. From these interviews several themes emerged, including: the importance of social support, critique of department responses, unique characteristics of …

The Effects Of Trauma From Multiple Placements Of Foster Youth, Savannah Perez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Over the course of several decades, the foster youth population continues to grow due to various forms of abuse that have occurred in the biological home. Many foster children experience multiple placements which ultimately cause a significant amount of trauma due to placement instability. The study examined trauma of instability among foster youth and discussed interventions that could be implemented when working with resource families and foster youth within the field of social work.

A post-positivism paradigm was used to focus on understanding the trauma of placement instability. A total of six face-to-face interviews of master’s level social workers were …

An Examination Of The Impact Traumatic Events Has On Psychosocial Impairment In Eating Disorder Patients, Jennifer Parker Hackett

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Research suggests that trauma has an impact on eating disorders. While prior research has demonstrated that the trauma from abuse has a significant impact on eating disorders, research has failed to explore other types of trauma. In addition, previous studies have stopped short of examining the impact trauma has on functioning among individuals with an eating disorder. This study aimed to address that gap in the literature. The purpose of this study is to examine whether traumatic life events impact psychosocial functioning among individuals living with an eating disorder. Furthermore, this study aimed to identify which traumas are shown to …