Social Work Commons^™

Developing Transformational Curriculum To Educate Social Work Students About Indigenous Peoples And Indigenous Knowledge, Deborah Thibeault

Doctor of Social Work Banded Dissertations

While efforts to recruit Indigenous social work students must be continued, social work educators need to ensure that non-Indigenous social work students are learning about the history, culture, and wisdom of Indigenous peoples. Additionally, social work students need to become aware of the impact the social work profession has had on this population. This awareness and understanding will help social workers practice from a place of being an ally and will assist in altering the views many Indigenous people have about social work. There are three products in this banded dissertation that focus on engaging social work educators in a …

Military Social Work: Utilizing Interprofessional Practice And Education To Increase Efficacy, Stephanie Grant

Doctor of Social Work Banded Dissertations

This banded dissertation examines the use of interprofessional practice as a framework to increase efficacy in military social work practice and consists of three distinct but related scholarly products. The first scholarly product is a conceptual article that explores the alignment between the Air Force’s resilience initiative Comprehensive Airman Fitness (CAF) and the Council on Social Work Education’s Advanced Social Work Practice in Military Social Work Standards. Conceptualizing interprofessional practice and the ecological perspective, this article endorses the efforts to advance military social work practice competencies by connecting with CAF and other Department of Defense (DoD) resilience initiatives. Leveraging resources …

Achieving Optimal Volition And Well-Being: Facilitating Movement Along The Motivational Continuum Through Self-Determination Theory, Andrew Thompson

Doctor of Social Work Banded Dissertations

The dissertation comprises three products that considered self-determination theory (SDT) as theoretical framework to support interventions that promote satisfaction of basic psychological needs among recipients of assertive community treatment (ACT) and forensic assertive community treatment (FACT). The first product is a paper that conceptualized and integrated elements of self-determination (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) in the implementation of assertive community treatment and forensic assertive community treatment. The integration of implementation of these basic psychological needs provided a framework to increase autonomy and self-determination, which has proven effective at increasing enhanced client wellness and optimal outcomes. The second product is a cross-sectional …

Lack Of Services In Rural Social Work: Ethical Issues And The Impact On Parenting, Judy Zimbelman

Doctor of Social Work Banded Dissertations

The unique set of challenges in rural social work adds new dimensions to social work practice needs. Issues of poverty, substance abuse, and mental health issues are often ignored in the rural setting. The conceptual framework used in this banded dissertation is the ecological model, which applies the concept of systems to apply when working with individuals, families, and communities.

The first product, a conceptual paper, identifies the impact of the lack of services on parents and provides creative solutions to establishing resources for parents in rural areas. The number of professionals working in rural areas is limited, there is …

Civic Engagement And Social Action In Social Work Education, Terri Klemm

Doctor of Social Work Banded Dissertations

This banded dissertation comprises three scholarly products that address the importance of civic engagement and social action in social work education. Throughout the banded dissertation, the conceptual lens of critical social theory, which presupposes that education is fundamental to democracy, provides a framework in which to consider social work educators’ responsibility to effectively prepare students to engage in a broad range of civic activities, including social action, in order to address crucial social problems.

The first product, an exploratory historical research study, provides historical context with an examination of the role of social work in a democratic society from the …

Amplifying Lgbtq Voices In Social Work, Carey A. Winkler

Doctor of Social Work Banded Dissertations

This banded dissertation is focused on amplifying LGBTQ voices in social work education and practice through an exploration of language, policies, standards, and practices used in social work education. Using a historical lens, feminist, queer, and critical theories were used to examine issues of power, voice, context, and social justice.

The first product is a conceptual paper that examines the history of the language used in social work education related to how we think and talk about diversity. This examination includes a critique of the use of the term difference and the othering impact it can have on LGBTQ individuals …

Enhancing The Effectiveness Of Assertive Community Treatment For People Of Color: Practice & Theory, Laura E. Escobar-Ratliff

Doctor of Social Work Banded Dissertations

Disparities in mental health treatment have been well documented over the last 30 years. Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) is poised to be able to address these disparities for people experiencing severe mental illness if we ground practice (i.e., ACT) in theory (i.e., ecological perspective of social work). The ecological perspective pushes social workers and other practitioners to be critically aware of the complexities of humanity and be expansive in our outlook and approach to practice.

Product One was a systematic review focused on primary research that assessed the outcomes of the effectiveness of ACT with people of color who are …