Social Work Commons^™

Factors Associated With Successful Military-To-Civilian Transition Among Special Forces Veterans, Edward Richter

Theses and Dissertations--Social Work

The purpose of this study was to explore the military-to-civilian transitional experience in a sample of Special Forces veterans. Acknowledging challenges in accessing the veteran population, most existing research on the military-to-civilian transition consolidates military occupations into a single sample. This method fails to address the intricacies that may exist within individual military occupations, especially that of U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers. Special Forces qualified soldiers represent the largest portion of all U.S. Military Special Operations Forces and are responsible for the majority of all Special Operations activities, yet their experience in transitioning out of the Army is largely unknown. …

Exploring The Distinction Between Support And Enabling In Families With Substance Use Disorder, Krystal N. King

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

Substance use disorders (SUD) are a pervasive public health problem facing families in the United States. Although families are frequently urged to support loved ones who have SUD and cautioned against enabling them, there is a dearth of literature that distinguishes between supporting and enabling. Through qualitative interviews, this phenomenological study examined the experiences of eight parents with adult children with SUD who were currently in recovery. Five themes emerged from the data including: (a) living in despair, (b) addiction and recovery knowledge, (c) support group philosophy, (d) coping with addiction, and (e) differentiation. The results from this study suggest …

Foster Caregiving: How Interactions With The Child Welfare Agency Impact Foster Parent Satisfaction, Recruitment, And Retention, Ethan Engelhardt

Theses and Dissertations--Social Work

Professionals of the child welfare system in Kentucky have continuously worked to retain and recruit new foster parents for the foster care system. Foster parents are uniquely placed in a surrogate caring position for children removed from their homes for reasons of abuse or neglect. Foster parents accept this role and step in to provide a safe and loving household for many children. There are more than 9,000 children placed in Out of Home Care (OOHC) on any given day in Kentucky, leaving many children in need of a loving and supportive household. Foster parents hang in the balance between …

Assessing 4-H And Its Circle Of Courage In A Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility: A Case Study, Elizabeth Steering

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

This 4-H case study takes place in a psychiatric residential treatment facility (PRTF) in Kentucky. The PRTF provides clinical services to youth that are not able to be safely maintained in their homes due to having demonstrated unsafe or harmful behaviors. Youth admitted to the PRTF stay for an average of three to six months while they receive intensive therapeutic and psychiatric care as well as medical treatment and public schooling. The current case study incorporates programming from 4-H, which is the youth development program of the Cooperative Extension System (CES) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), …

The Role Of Organizational Leaders In Employee Self-Care: A Change Management Approach, Olivia Dawn Honaker

DSW Capstone Projects

Although literature demonstrates that helping professionals have had high levels of stress and burnout for decades, the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated the issue. The already burdened healthcare workers, now facing increased workloads, long hours, and high-level exposure to trauma, have created an urgency to address this significant risk to helping professionals. The current capstone will bring awareness to organizational leaders regarding the importance of employee self-care and the benefits of implementing employee self-care programs. First, a systematic literature review will examine self-care in helping professions and explore how organizational leaders operationalize employee self-care programs. In addition, the capstone aims …

Child Welfare: Workforce Retention, Competence, And The Connection To Social Work Education, Brittany Stanley

DSW Capstone Projects

While there are many avenues to discuss and explore, the key area of interest for the Capstone Project is that of retention of a competent frontline workforce. Each state has their own set of guidelines for hiring frontline workers which allows for variety in the educational backgrounds of the investigative and ongoing workers. This can become problematic when the educational background may not be the most suited for the work and challenges faced by child welfare workers.

During the development of the Capstone Project, one could not help but wonder that if workers were adequately prepared for the demands of …

Community-Oriented Policing: Building Trust And Collaborative Relationships With The Black Community, Tunice M. Cole

DSW Capstone Projects

Black people die at the hands of police at a disproportionate rate. In the United States, Black citizens are three times more likely to be killed by police than White citizens. This, along with other factors, has caused a lack of trust, legitimacy, and relationships between police and the Black community. Examining this problem from a socio-ecological and social constructivist perspective suggests that the solution encompasses the use of community feedback and experiences to build and develop a model of community-oriented policing that addresses the issues of the community being served.

Product one of this capstone was a systematic literature …

Women Returning To Their Families And Communities After Incarceration: Their Needs, Concerns And Challenges, Julius Johnson

Theses and Dissertations--Community & Leadership Development

The voices of women in re-entry from prison have been muted for many decades. Prior research conducted on men and prison re-entry has been used to shape not only prisons but also the reentry process for women. It is because of this oversight that the gender-specific needs of women in the justice system have gone unnoticed. Once released, formerly incarcerated women face the almost impossible task of finding employment. Many women who find employment have found that their wages do not help them move out of poverty. Trying to find adequate housing becomes an issue not only because of their …

The Effects Of Parental Divorce And Remarriage On Emerging Adult’S Romantic Attachment Styles, Bailey Mortis

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

This study shined light on the gap in literature about the impact of communication and involvement of stepparents has on emerging adult’s romantic attachment styles. A sample of 289 college students between the ages of 18 and 22 at the University of Kentucky was recruited to complete an online survey about their perceived experience with their stepparent and parental figures and the effects on their romantic attachment styles. Parental involvement in children’s lives and having good communication, sets the foundation for individuals to have secure attachment styles. Emerging adults who experience parental figures and stepparents as being uninterested or passive …

Retirement Planning Versus Family Support: What Drives Peoples` Decisions?, Radion Svynarenko

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

A slight majority of American households headed by 55–64-year-olds do not have any savings for retirement, and those who have retirement savings have a median of around $109,000 saved, which is equivalent to an inflation-protected annuity of $405 per month (i.e., well below the official poverty level). Among the main reasons cited for the lack of retirement savings among parents is a desire to provide financial support to their young adult children. Indeed, on the whole, parents spend twice as much on financial support of their adult children as they save for retirement (Merryl Lynch, 2018). Understanding the precursors and …

“Dad, Do You Want To Play With Me?” The Impact Of Fathers Who Make Time For Play, Michael S. Sitton

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

With an increase in the pace of life in the United States, there comes a recognition of the importance of prioritizing time, especially for fathers. Of the two-thirds of children who live with their father, only a percentage of them have fathers who report regular play time with their children. However, literature in the field does not explain specifically whether or not this play between father and child influences the child’s later risk taking behaviors in high school. Using data from the 2003 Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), waves 3, 4, and 6, this quantitative study sought to …

Vocational Rehabilitation Outcomes For Hispanic Consumers In Traditional Settlement Areas And New Immigrant Destinations: A 17-Year Trend Analysis, Karen E. Waddle Cinnamond

Theses and Dissertations--Social Work

At the end of the 20^th century, economic and political forces converged to create an unprecedented migration of Hispanics across and within U.S. borders. Many migrated for work in new destinations like the Southeast instead of traditional regions in the Southwest. In the Southeast many communities struggled to meet the economic and social needs of its newest members of a population that grew seemingly overnight.

The state-federal vocational rehabilitation system is an important service to meet the economic and social needs of people with disabilities that impair their ability to work. Current scholarship suggests Hispanics and other minorities experience …

College-Educated, African American Women's Marital Choices, Katherine M. Oliver

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

This study explores the desire to marry, marriageable mate criteria, and marital choices/options as they pertain to college-educated, African American women within today’s society. A purposive, nationally based sample (N = 95) of never married, college-educated, African American women (i.e., 18 to 40 years of age) was gathered via an online survey accessed by an emailed link. A mixed methods approach was utilized within the survey design, followed by data analyses (i.e., frequencies, two-way analyses) interpreted through a theoretical framework of social exchange. Areas discussed include life goals of marriage, cohabitation, and career; romantic barriers; the perceived availability of …

State Child Welfare Policy: Causes And Consequences, Dana D. Connelly

Theses and Dissertations--Public Policy and Administration

On any given day almost 400,000 children in the United States are living in an out-of-home care placement due to government intervention. Federal law allows for substantial variance in state child welfare policy on a number of topics. These policy decisions, however, are understudied both in terms of the forces driving them and also the impacts the policies have on actual outcomes for children in care.

Utilizing a unique panel data set comprised of thirteen child welfare policies that vary both between states and over time we examine how well redistributive theory (constituent, institutional, paternalistic and resource pressures) explains state …

Rampage School Shootings: A Content Analysis Of Media And Scholarly Accounts Of Perpetration Factors Associated With The Phenomenon, Philip Mongan

Theses and Dissertations--Social Work

When school shootings occur in primary or secondary schools they draw a massive amount of media attention. Frequently, after the shooting stops, the media begins to prognosticate about the factors that led to the occurrence of the tragedy. However, there is a dearth of research examining those factors that are perpetuated by the media, as well as the factors that are most discussed in scholarly publications. Therefore, the aim of this research project was to explore the perpetration factors that have been perpetuated by the media, and compare those to the perpetration factors that are most frequently discussed by researchers. …