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Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

Mental illness

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Full-Text Articles in Social Work

Is Marketing Messing With Your Clients’ Heads? Brands, Identity, And Clinical Practice, Paul Schuster May 2018

Is Marketing Messing With Your Clients’ Heads? Brands, Identity, And Clinical Practice, Paul Schuster

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

This narrative review of the literature explores current understanding of whether and how consumer brands affect clients’ constructs of self and therefore clinical mental health practice. The relevance of this question stems from the growing body of academic business and marketing literature dedicated to engineering brands into consumers’ constructs of self, and from the marketing infrastructure dedicated to engineering brands suitable for self-construction. From a social constructionist perspective, the question is additionally relevant considering how environmental factors related to constructing the self ultimately affect mental health. Systematic searches of four databases fail to find any articles addressing potential practice implications …


Punishment, Pathology Or Possibility: Caseworker Discretion, Mental Illness, And Welfare Sanctions, Andrew Kishel May 2017

Punishment, Pathology Or Possibility: Caseworker Discretion, Mental Illness, And Welfare Sanctions, Andrew Kishel

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

This study was designed to explore the ways that caseworkers in the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP) make decisions in situations of client noncompliance. The research question was: what factors impact the decision-making of MFIP caseworkers around the question of noncompliance? Ten in-person interviews were conducted, recorded, coded and analyzed. Caseworkers identified that client noncompliance can be caused by mental illness or environmental factors in clients’ lives such as lack of community capital and transportation infrastructure or domestic violence. Caseworkers also identified that client noncompliance is frequently caused by factors internal to the MFIP bureaucracy, which clients have little influence …


Police Officers And Mental Health: The Efficacy Of Cit Training, Ian Morris May 2017

Police Officers And Mental Health: The Efficacy Of Cit Training, Ian Morris

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

This study provides an analysis of the interaction between people with SPMI (Serious and Persistent Mental Illness) and police officers who have undergone CIT (Crisis Intervention Team) Training, an intervention aimed at equipping law enforcement officers with knowledge and training about mental illness. The researcher utilized an open-ended, qualitative interview research design consisting of 11 interviews, each lasting approximately 30-45 minutes. Research participants were identified via purposive sampling. Utilizing open coding, four themes were identified during this study: 1.) CIT Training challenges old and ingrained ways of thinking about police work. 2.) CIT Training teaches the importance of building rapport. …


Quantitative Research: Social Workers’ Perceptions Of Mental Illness, Daniel Nordlund May 2016

Quantitative Research: Social Workers’ Perceptions Of Mental Illness, Daniel Nordlund

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

This study examines Minnesota Licensed Social Workers’ perceptions of mental illness. The researcher developed a quantitative survey consisting of 39 questions from four pre- existing surveys, as well as the researcher’s own questions, to measure different types of stigma associated with mental illness. Three major themes were analyzed: level of education, personal experience, and professional experience, and how they related to possible stigma towards mental illness. A combination of frequency distributions, Chi Square, Pearson Correlation, and Independent T-test were utilized to answer the question: “What are social workers’ perceptions on mental illness related to stigma; and how does this vary …


Improving Mental Illness Recovery Utilizing Exercise Through Assertive Community Treatment Teams, Tami Wesselink May 2016

Improving Mental Illness Recovery Utilizing Exercise Through Assertive Community Treatment Teams, Tami Wesselink

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) teams are designed to be an all-inclusive delivery of services to individuals with severe and persistent mental illness. The purpose of this study is to gain a greater understanding of the benefits of exercise in the recovery of individuals with mental illness receiving services from ACT teams. There are currently 26 ACT teams in the State of Minnesota. Through 11 face-to-face interviews and eight written responses to interview questions, five themes developed: (a) The Role and Influence of Team Leads on Exercise, (b) Why individuals on Assertive Community Treatment Teams are Exercising, (c) How Incentives and …


Social Support: Coping And Stress Related Growth Among Adults With Mental Illness, Tara J. Reopelle May 2015

Social Support: Coping And Stress Related Growth Among Adults With Mental Illness, Tara J. Reopelle

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

The purpose of this research study was to understand the relationship with social support and coping along with stress related growth in adults with mental illness. The research study sample involved six adults with a serious and persistent mental illness that were part of an assisted living and intentional community program. The methodology used in this research study was qualitative and semi-structured interviews. Findings included demographic information as to the age, education, and religious and/or spiritual status of the study participants. Data content analysis of the semi-structured interviews revealed themes of social support, learning from others, coping with feelings and …


The Integration Of Peer Support Specialists: A Qualitative Study, Maja B. Smedberg May 2015

The Integration Of Peer Support Specialists: A Qualitative Study, Maja B. Smedberg

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

The integration of Peer Support Specialists (PSS’s) into the mental health workplace presents both a challenge and an opportunity. For this qualitative study seven Peer Support Specialists were interviewed regarding their experiences in the workplace with coworkers and supervisors, as well as the strategies they utilized to integrate into their workplace. The transcripts of these interviews were analyzed for common themes. Some participants described successes of being utilized as a resource by colleagues and treated with respect. Many participants also described incidents of stigma and prejudice in their work environment coming from coworkers and supervisors, as well as other unique …


Housing Homeless Who Are Diagnosed With Mental Illness: Social Service Professionals’ Perspectives, Kayla Sprenger May 2015

Housing Homeless Who Are Diagnosed With Mental Illness: Social Service Professionals’ Perspectives, Kayla Sprenger

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

Housing the homeless who are diagnosed with a mental illness has been a problem for decades, not only for the individual, but society as a whole. In this study, eight social service professionals in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area who work with homeless individuals diagnosed with a mental illness were interviewed. A qualitative approach, incorporating a semi-standardized survey was used. Content analysis was used to analyze the data. This study obtained data for the purposes of understanding the social service professionals’ perspective of how housing the homeless with a mental illness is beneficial. The survey included questions regarding changes in mental …


Social Workers’ Perceptions Of Professional Boundaries Within Residential Mental Health Treatment Settings, Carmen E. Tomaš May 2014

Social Workers’ Perceptions Of Professional Boundaries Within Residential Mental Health Treatment Settings, Carmen E. Tomaš

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

The beliefs about how to ethically treat those with mental illness have fluctuated considerably throughout the centuries in the United States. As a part of the community mental health movement, some mental health treatment is now provided in residential settings. The purpose of this study is to gain further understanding of social workers’ practice of professional boundaries within this specific mental health treatment modality. Using a qualitative design, six Licensed Independent Clinical Social Workers (LICSWs) employed within Minnesota Intensive Residential Treatment Services (IRTS) facilities were interviewed. Data were analyzed using inductive grounded theory and open coding which revealed the findings …


The Experience Of Msw Students: Self-Stigma And Mental Illness, Ashley Trudell May 2014

The Experience Of Msw Students: Self-Stigma And Mental Illness, Ashley Trudell

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

The purpose of this research study was to investigate the ways in which current MSW students experience different forms of the stigma of mental illness. The broader research question for this study is: Do current MSW students experience self-stigma of mental illness? Self-stigma is the internalization of negative attitudes and stereotypes created by general stigma (Corrigan et al., 2008). This study will examine the relationship between levels of general stigma and self-stigma in order to answer an additional question: If social work students are non-judgmental towards others in the general population with mental illness, are they similarly less judgmental towards …


Grieving Mental Illness: Individual Experiences Of Grief, Loss, And Growth, Alissa Kaasa May 2013

Grieving Mental Illness: Individual Experiences Of Grief, Loss, And Growth, Alissa Kaasa

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

The purpose of this study was to explore the grief experience of people who develop severe and persistent mental illnesses (SPMI). Group members and facilitators of a Grieving Mental Illness group that met at a suburban drop-in center were asked to voluntarily participant in semi-structured, qualitative, in-person interviews. Content analysis was used to find themes in the group member and facilitator interviews. The findings indicated that individuals with SPMI have a unique grief experience that is enhanced by many factors. Group participants expressed having cycling feelings of grief. These feeling were triggered by life events or reminders of the loss …


Critique Of The Group Home Model In Addressing Homelessness For People With A Mental Illness, Brenda K. Blaisdell May 2013

Critique Of The Group Home Model In Addressing Homelessness For People With A Mental Illness, Brenda K. Blaisdell

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

The purpose of this study was to explore the strengths and limitations of the group home model in addressing homelessness for people diagnosed with a mental illness. This study attempted to collect qualitative data from group home owners who serve people who have a mental illness and have been or are at risk of homelessness. Researcher was unable to recruit a sample for this study due to barriers in recruiting a sample. The barriers to recruiting a sample include: low sample; inaccessibility of group home owners; lack of investment by group home owners in the research process and a lack …


Perceptions Of Professionals Who Serve Adults With Mental Illness And Criminal Backgrounds, Rosemarie Sayers May 2012

Perceptions Of Professionals Who Serve Adults With Mental Illness And Criminal Backgrounds, Rosemarie Sayers

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

This qualitative research paper is based on the responses of social service professionals that were individually interviewed about their perceptions serving people with mental illness that have a criminal background by asking a series of questions. The social service professionals acknowledged the increased number of clients they serve in their work that have both a mental illness and a criminal background. Common barriers were reported, most commonly was lack of housing and employment. These barriers were identified as contributing homelessness amongst this population. The need for social service professionals to receive training about this population and to work collaboratively with …