Social Work Commons^™

The Impact Of Transportation And Childcare Assistance On Self-Sufficiency In Families First Participants In Tennessee, Debra Anne Wolfe Shumaker

Doctoral Dissertations

States are not required to provide subsidies for childcare and transportation, but at the time of this writing all provided some supplements to TANF participants who were working, looking for work, or attending school. However, there has been little assessment of the effectiveness of these programs. Using data from a longitudinal study on Families First participants in the state of Tennessee, this exploratory study addresses the questions of whether transportation and childcare supplements contribute to the ability of TANF participants to move off welfare and support their families adequately through their own efforts, and whether outcomes from these services differ …

An Evaluation Of The Outcomes Of Children With Multiple Disabilities Who Attended Camp Koinonia In 2009, Janelle Nimer

Doctoral Dissertations

One of the largest populations with whom social workers work are individuals with disabilities. Due to the increase of children with disabilities, it is important to evaluate the programs in which the children participate. Camp Koinonia is a program at the University of Tennessee that works with children with multiple disabilities for one week a year. The purpose of this study was to conduct a program evaluation on Camp Koinonia in 2009 (n = 109). This study assessed age,(continuous variable, n = 109) gender (male, n = 61; female n = 48), category of disability (cognitive, n = 50; physical, …

Exploring The Link Between Interpersonal Violence To Animals Among Juvenile Sexual Offenders, Stephanie Ann Harness

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the types of behaviors juvenile sexual offenders participate in and inflict on animals, and compare them to the behaviors of youths involved in other types of crimes, and youths not involved in any criminal activity. A total of 654 juvenile males participated in the study and were included for data analysis. Participants were recruited in two phases. The first phase gathered participants from two treatment centers, and the second phase collected data from students enrolled in undergraduate classes at a public southeastern university. All participating youths were then divided into five categories: …

Alzheimer's Disease Caregiver Burden: Does Resilience Matter?, Cathy B Scott

Doctoral Dissertations

Caring for an individual with Alzheimer’s disease is especially challenging and impacts every aspect of the lives of the informal caregivers. Informal caregiving is defined as unpaid care provided by family or friends to people with a chronic illness or disability (Young & Newman, 2002). Caregiver burden involves the physical, psychological, social and emotional problems experienced by a caregiver of an impaired loved one (Gwyther & George, 2006). Alzheimer’s disease caregivers report more depression than their caregiving and non-caregiving peers, experience increased physical decline, and often experience financial challenges. Evidence suggests Alzheimer’s disease caregiver burden is a result of both …

Gender And Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Screening In The Military: A Measurement Study, Mark Allan Oliver

Doctoral Dissertations

The Primary Care Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PC-PTSD) screen (Prins et al., 2003) is used by the Department of Defense to identify military members who are at increased risk of PTSD. This screen has been offered to all returning deployers since 2005. However, validation studies of PC-PTSD scores from military samples have seldom employed a significant number of female subjects and no published studies have examined it for gender bias. Ruling out bias is important because routine under-identification of PTSD risk in any group could result in hindered access to needed assessment and/or care. With the current proportion of military females …

Human–Animal Relationships As Modulators Of Trauma Effects In Children: A Developmental Neurobiological Perspective, Janet G. Yorke

Doctoral Dissertations

Humans and animals interaction is showing promise as a way to provide complementary and alternative medicine for humans. Children have an affinity for animals that could be useful therapeutically. Emotional stress and trauma impacts the neurobiology of children, who are vulnerable given the developmental plasticity of the brain. Some research suggests that neuropeptides and neuromodulators in both humans and the animals are mutually altered through human animal interaction, resulting in the attenuation of stressful responses in both (Yorke, in press; McCabe & Albano, 2004; Uvnas-Moberg, 2009). Human or animal touch, proximity and mind body interaction has been found to contribute …

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 …

Social Support And Depression Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults, Julie Helen Grocki

Doctoral Dissertations

Late-life depression is a significant public and geriatric mental health concern and one of the most prevalent and common emotional disorders for all older United States citizens. This study examined how relationships with close friends and close relatives affected depressive symptomatology among African American and White older adults and explored how health, social and religious factors modified that relationship. The sample consisted of participants from the New Haven, CT cohort of the population-based longitudinal study, The National Institute on Aging project entitled “The Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly” [EPESE]. Respondents were ages 65-75 and older (mean age …

Www.Homeless.Org/Culture: A Cross-Level Analysis Of The Relationship Between Organizational Culture And Technology Use Among Homeless Service Providers, Courtney Marie Cronley

Doctoral Dissertations

The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires federally-funded homeless service providers to participate in an homeless management information system (HMIS). While federally mandated, no one has examined how these technologies are being used. Theory and research suggest that the technology dissemination is contingent upon the organizational culture in which it is used. This study represents the first empirical analysis of HMIS use and explores the cross-level relationship between staff members’ HMIS use and organizational culture.

Staff members at 24 homeless service providers completed the Organizational Social Context (OSC) survey and scores from each provider were aggregated …

Extending Knowledge Of Parents’ Role In Adolescent Development: The Mediating Effect Of Self, Sally Beville Hunter

Doctoral Dissertations

Much previous work has demonstrated the importance of parenting for adolescents’ psychosocial functioning. Barber, Stolz, and Olsen’s (2005) recent monograph contributed in organizing and specifying the voluminous literature on parent-child/adolescent literatures by documenting specific paths among three commonly-studied dimensions of parenting (i.e., support, psychological control, and behavioral control) and three salient adolescent outcomes (i.e., social initiative, depression, and antisocial behavior). They did not, however, explore the possible mechanisms that underlie the consistent parenting effects they and others have found.

Theory suggests that the adolescent self would be a logical mediator of the effects of parenting. Further, measures of the self, …

The Effectiveness Of A Restraint Reduction Policy Implemented To Reduce The Use Of Physical Restraint With Children And Adolescents In A Residential Care Facility, Irma Molina Damen

Doctoral Dissertations

This simple interrupted time-series quasi-experimental study examined the effectiveness of a restraint reduction policy implemented in order to reduce the use of physical restraint in a residential treatment facility for children in the southeastern United States. Aggregate data on monthly physical restraint episodes from the agency were analyzed over a period of 4 years. A 22-month period was used as the baseline and the succeeding 26 months- when the restraint reduction policy was implemented- was the intervention phase. A regular regression model, estimated using ordinary least squares (OLS), modeled the effect of the policy change, and autoregressive integrated moving average …

Measuring The Effects Of Intergroup Dialogue On Teachers’ Attitudes, Feelings And Behaviors Regarding Lesbian, Gay And Bisexual Students And Parents, Adrienne Brodsky Dessel

Doctoral Dissertations

Prejudice, discrimination and hate crimes against lesbians and gay men are prevalent throughout the United States. Prejudice in public school settings, as manifested in teacher attitudes and behavior, is particularly problematic for lesbian, gay, bisexual and questioning or queer (LGBQ) students and LGBQ parents. Efforts to reduce prejudice for sexual minority groups have met with limited success. Creating safer and more inclusive school environments is essential for the wellbeing and learning of all students. Furthermore, the field of social work is guided by principles that necessitate intervention research that addresses harassment and violence based on sexual orientation prejudice.

This dissertation …

A Confirmatory Factor Analysis Of The Lexington Attachment To Pets Scale, Tracy Leigh Zaparanick

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which the word “pet” provided valid results in the Lexington Attachment to Pets Scale (LAPS) (Johnson, Garrity, & Stallones, 1992). A multiple-groups confirmatory factor analysis, using maximum likelihood (ML) estimation, was conducted to test the hypothesized factor structures in the specified measurement model. Respondents to the Original version (i.e. used the word pet) and the Personalized version (i.e. embedded the canine’s name as typed by participants) made up the two groups. Features of an electronic survey were necessary for this personalization and systematic alternative assignment to the two LAPS …

Co-Occurring Disorders: An Outpatient Latent Class Analysis, Kathleen H. Darby

Doctoral Dissertations

Over the past 20 years researchers and health care practitioners have come to realize in addition to high prevalence rates, individuals with co-occurring disorders did not represent a homogeneous group (Drake, et al., 1998: 2001; Lehman, et al., 1994: 2000; Mueser, et al., 2000). It is essential to consider the heterogeneity of co-occurring disorders when considering new treatment modalities. Thus, it becomes pivotal to identify these differences for treatment approaches and program goals. Research shows that heterogeneity of treatment populations can be reduced through empirically-derived homogeneous groups based on multivariate analysis (Ries, et al., 1993; Lehman et al., 2000; Mueser, …

Racial Identification Among Rural African American Adolescents, John Walter Miller Jr.

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation critically examines the influence that environmental racial composition has on the racial identification development of African Americans adolescents. Theoretical models that describe the formation of racial identity are examined chronologically, and research compiled within social work literature on the topic of racial identification is examined. Although previous studies have examined how African American adolescents over the age of 15 deal with the complexities of racial identity development, to date there is no literature that examines how middle school age African American adolescents navigate the same waters. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between environmental …

Validation Of The Air Force Family Needs Screener, Wendy J. Wyse

Doctoral Dissertations

The Air Force Family Needs Screener (FNS) has been utilized as a screening measure for risk of both child maltreatment and intimate partner violence (IPV) within the context of a military primary prevention program called the New Parent Support Program (NPSP) since 1988. However, this measure has only been validated with the initial pilot samples used in its development. The current study sought to assess the reliability, dependability, factor structure and predictive capacity of the FNS using a new sample of mothers. In addition, this study sought to develop shortened versions of the FNS in order to determine if they …

Scale Validation Of Co-Parenting In Foster Couples, Donna J. Cherry

Doctoral Dissertations

Co-parenting, the joint participation and responsibility of a set of adults in childrearing (Talbot & McHale, 2004), contributes to our understanding of how family systems influence child outcomes. Co-parenting is more proximal to parenting than many measures of marital relationships in that it focuses only on those dyadic processes that are specific to parenting (e.g., child-rearing agreement, support/undermining of parenting practices). Because of this focus, it is also a more flexible construct for thinking about non-traditional parenting arrangements, such as family foster care. Rooted in a family systems theoretical framework, the unique contribution of co-parenting may help us better …

Intention To Leave And Organizational Commitment Among Child Welfare Workers, Shakira Alicia Kennedy

Doctoral Dissertations

Little is known about the factors that contribute to organizational commitment among child welfare workers. Yet, since the early 1960s, child welfare has been plagued with high staff turnover rates that threaten the quality and continuity of services provided to vulnerable families. Child welfare organizations must be innovative and use proven models to assist in detecting when a worker has the intention of leaving the organization. The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between intention to leave and organizational commitment among child welfare workers. Data were collected on 70 child welfare workers in North Carolina. The Three-Component …

How Factors Related To Social Control Might Contribute To Juvenile Delinquency Among African American And Caucasian Females, Andridia Victoria Mapson

Doctoral Dissertations

This study examined how social control factors might contribute to delinquent behavior (status and criminal offenses) among African American and Caucasian females using Hirschi’s 1969 model of social control. Secondary data was used from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN). Data were used for African American and Caucasian girls from Wave I, resulting in a sample of 837. The results indicated that the social control variables did not decrease status offenses with the exception of involvement, which had a negative statistically significant relationship. There were no differences among the races. When looking at criminal offenses, results indicated …

Assessment Of The Trait Hope Scale With Social Service Providers, Andrea Kelli Mccarter

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability of the Trait Hope Scale when used with a sample of socials service providers. Scale scores were collected from 104 social service providers in the southeastern region of the United States. Data was collected using self report surveys from a population of case managers in the social service field. Univariate analyses were conducted to determine the make up of the sample which was primarily white females having a graduate degree. Additionally, Bivariate analyses were used to compare the mean scores of the agency, pathway and hope scale between genders and …

Measuring Effort To Interview And Track Mothers Of Newborns, Elizabeth E. Wilson

Doctoral Dissertations

Maintaining a longitudinal sample is methodologically important to the integrity of research conclusions. The amount of effort devoted to retaining samples varies across research studies. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the effort needed to interview and track longitudinal respondents and the respondents' demographic characteristics, their collateral information, and various measures of the respondents' stability. The sample consisted of 246 mothers of newborns who were interviewed twice over 6 to 12 months as a part of the Volunteer Infant Parent Study. By using eight variables and latent class analysis, mothers of newborns were categorized into …

From Father To Child: An Application Of The Process-Person-Context-Time Model, Lauren Ella Renkert

Doctoral Dissertations

This study assumes several overarching goals. The first is to bring the social work profession firmly to the table in the discourse on fathering. A second goal of this study is to place the study of fathering in a theoretical framework that aptly acknowledges and accommodates the complexities of the subject. Applying Bronfenbrenner’s (1995) Process-Person-Context-Time model, a third major goal of this study is to examine more closely what fathers themselves say about fathers and fathering and the implications of their perceptions. This study utilizes a subsample of fathers from a large nationally representative data set to test and expand …

Student Reports Of Physical And Psychological Maltreatment In Schools: An Under Explored Aspect Of Student Victimization In Schools, Kathryn Suzanne Whitted

Doctoral Dissertations

Purpose

This study examined the extent to which students reported that adults in a school setting had mistreated them. Specifically, this study provides findings on the students’ perceptions of the extent to which they were the victims of physical maltreatment and psychological maltreatment during their school careers. The study investigated whether the types or frequency of maltreatment was related to demographic characteristics of the student (i.e., race and gender).

Methods

The sample (N = 50) was composed of students in alternative education schools in the southeastern U.S. during the 2004-2005 school year. Students reported the frequency and types of …

Social And Emotional Development Of Children 0 To 36 Months In Poverty, Valentina Bopkova

Doctoral Dissertations

The study examined the effects of poverty on young children’s social and emotional development through the effects poverty has on parenting. National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) was the chosen data set. Total of 148 children and their parents (primarily mothers) took part in the study, at two survey time points 1998 and 2000. The study was a reanalysis of survey data and not an original survey data collection. There were two types of regression analyses performed ("snap-shot" and motion-picture"). First each of the four crafted hypotheses was tested within one time frame, and then year 1998 was used as …

A Criterion Validity Study Of Individuals' Reports Of Gunfire And Recorded Gunfire, Sylvia Jane Sergent

Doctoral Dissertations

The focus of this study was the validation of people's reports of gunfire in two inner city neighborhoods in the Southeast. A survey design was used in which 342 people were interviewed by telephone. An ARIMA analysis was conducted to determine the relationship between people's gunfire reports and 58 days of ShotSpotter recordings. The results indicated that the percentage of residents reporting the presence of gunfire was a valid predictor of night gunfire. However, residents' reports of the actual number of gunshots did not appear valid. Reports of gunfire did not appear to have a statistically significant correlation with 911 …

Aggression And The Big Five Personality Factors Of Grades And Attendance, Juan J. Barthelemy

Doctoral Dissertations

The focus of this study was to determine whether aggression adds incremental validity above and beyond the big five personality factors in predicting academic success. An archival data analysis was used in this study. The data \vas consisted of all of the eight grade students who were present when the data was collected in a middle school in the SoutheasteIl1 region of the United States. The students completed the Personal Style Inventory-Adolescent (PSI-A), which is a 120 item survey instrument designed to measure the big five personality factors and aggression. Results from this study indicated that aggression does in fact …

Assessing Cultural Receptivity In Fostering: Scale Development And Validation, Tanya M. Coakley

Doctoral Dissertations

A shortage of foster parents of diverse cultures coupled with the problem of an overrepresentation of children of minority cultures in the child welfare system has resulted in a dire need to place children in families that do not share cultures (i.e., transcultural placements). Children in foster and adoptive placements suffer the loss of their birth families and are at risk for losing knowledge about their past generations (Deberry, Scarr, & Weinberg, 1996; Thoburn, Norford, & Rashid, 2000). Children in transcultural placements are further at-risk for consequent loss of their cultural heritages. Therefore, it is imperative for transcultural foster parents …

An Examination Of The Psychometric Properties Of The Casey Foster Applicant Inventory – Worker Version (Cfai-W), Gary S. Cuddeback

Doctoral Dissertations

Foster family applicants form the pool from which caregivers are selected for the day-to-day care of the many vulnerable children placed in foster care, but limited research exists concerning the reliability and validity of standardized measures for assessing the potential of foster family applicants to provide successful foster care. This dissertation examines the psychometric properties of the Casey Foster Applicant Inventory – Worker Version (CFAI-W), a paper and pencil tool designed to assess the strengths and training and service needs of family foster care applicants.

Retrospective data were collected from 208 foster care workers who had at least one year …

Dating Violence And Psychosocial Problems: Exploratory Findings From A Sample Of Adolescents Facing Unwanted Pregnancy, Gretchen E. Ely

Doctoral Dissertations

Empirical studies of adolescent dating violence have mainly focused on changing attitudes and knowledge levels. These studies are mostly conducted in mixed gender classroom settings. Results from these studies do not provide knowledge of which psychological/social (psychosocial) problems co-occur with dating violence in at-risk adolescent populations. The current study provides exploratory information related to dating violence in adolescent pregnancy termination patients, a subset of the population virtually ignored by the adolescent literature. In this study, 120 adolescent pregnancy termination patients ages 14 through 21 completed the Conflict in Adolescent Relationships Inventory (CADRI) and the Multi-dimensional Adolescent Assessment Scale (MAAS). Linear …

Perceived Severity, Expected Improvement And Goal Of Change As Factors Of Appointment Keeping Behaviors In Outpatient Mental Health Treatment, Charlene P. Bruley

Doctoral Dissertations

A field study was conducted to investigate the relationship between the number of problems identified by clients, their expectancy of improvement, a client’s identified therapy goal, and the number of missed appointments. Information about the number of problems, expectancy of improvement and therapy goal were obtained prior to the client first meeting with his/her therapist. The case records of 90 clients (N=416) who attended a non-metropolitan county outpatient mental health agency were reviewed. Data was collected on the number of problems identified by clients, whether a client expected to reduce reported distress, and whether a client identified a therapy goal. …