Social Work Commons^™

Love Letters For Liberatory Futures, Jessica Rodriguez-Jenkins, Roberta Hunte, Lakindra Mitchell Dove, Antonia R.G. Alvarez, Alma M. O. Trinidad, Gita Mehrotra

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This collection of letters serves to explore the narratives of a collective of women of color in academia by examining individual, collective, spiritual, and institutional strategies for surviving and transforming our institutional spaces and the ways that White Supremacy has shaped our journeys. Multiple perspectives are viewed, and we have written to our children, our future social work students, our future selves, our BIPOC faculty siblings, and our feared enemies to envision and embody more liberatory futures.

Keywords: liberation, academia, BIPOC faculty, institutional racism, White Supremacy

Archivo Y Memoria: Una Mirada A Tres Historias De Mujeres Esclavizadas En El Virreinato De La Nueva Granada De Finales Del Siglo Xviii, Luisa Carolina Julio Gomez

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Colonial documents preserve information that allows us to know the local Andean history of the Viceroyalty of New Granada. These manuscripts reveal forms of violence that shaped the subjectivities of the time and the resistance of oppressed women. This dissertation examines the effects of slavery and the response of three enslaved women to that colonial violence. This analysis seeks to better understand and make visible how the intersection between racism and patriarchy impacted the lives of three racialized women in the colonial context.

This dissertation focuses on the experiences, struggles, and resistance of three women present in the manuscripts consigned …

The State Of Transgender And Kinnar Communities In Delhi: Case Studies Connecting Socioeconomic Factors To Health, Ray Craig

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The paper seeks to draw connections between socioeconomic barriers faced by the transgender (trans) community in Delhi, India and the healthcare that the community receives. It primarily discusses transgender people who are not part of the kinnar population, with as much consideration to the experiences of the kinnar community as possible, given limited access to their circles. Five transgender individuals and two cisgender individuals who have worked with trans communities participated in semi-structured qualitative interviews to understand various factors that affect trans people’s daily lives and their healthcare experiences in Delhi. Interviews were transcribed and coded, finding common themes of …

How Racial Trauma Manifests In Black Women From Direct And Indirect Encounters With Police Brutality, Ashley Turner

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

This phenomenological study explored Black women’s lived experiences with racial trauma stemming from direct and indirect encounters with police brutality. A total of nine participants living in Washington state participated in this study. They identified as Black, ciswomen, fluent in English, and at least 21-years-old. In-depth, semi-structured, qualitative interviews were conducted to explore participants’ experiences with police. Transcripts were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The results consisted of the following five themes: (a) forms of police encounters, (b) influence of identity, (c) perceived reason for police brutality, (d) emotions stemming from police brutality, and (e) tactics to survive police interactions. …

Gender Responsive Reentry: Supporting Mothers And Their Children, Michaela Bruder, Ally Malueg, Neve Patterson, Courtney Schallock

Master of Social Work Student Policy Advocacy Briefs

The unique needs and experiences of women with children are not reflected in Minnesota’s state reentry approach or federal reentry approach. The number of women in the correctional system has been steadily rising, which means more women, many of them mothers, are returning to their families and communities without the programming and supports needed to successfully resume their roles as parent and provider. Minnesota must invest in a gender-responsive reentry approach tailored specifically to the needs of women with children.

Healing From Genocidal Rape: An Exploration Of The Trauma Healing Process Among Sevota Members, Delaney Bluhm

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Through a case study of SEVOTA, this paper examines trauma-healing practices among genocidal rape victims. Its primary research objectives are to identify the resources available to victims immediately post-genocide through the present, critically examine how these resources have helped victims heal, and observe any existing or impending challenges to healing from rape-related trauma in Rwanda. It concludes that building a community and providing resources to help with certain situations (such as funding for medical treatments or children’s school fees) are effective methods of trauma-healing among genocidal rape victims in Rwanda.

“We Are Doing The Absolute Most That We Can, And No One Is Listening”: Barriers And Facilitators To Health Literacy Within Transgender And Nonbinary Communities, C. Riley Hostetter, Jarrod Call, Donald R. Gerke, Brendon T. Holloway, N. Eugene Walls, Jennifer C. Greenfield

Graduate School of Social Work: Faculty Scholarship

Transgender and nonbinary (TNB) individuals face disparities in nearly every aspect of health. One factor associated with poor health outcomes in other marginalized populations is health literacy, yet no identified studies examine health literacy in TNB samples. Moreover, most health literacy frameworks focus primarily on the capacities of individual patients to understand and use healthcare information, with little attention given to provider literacy and environmental factors. In partnership with a statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization, we recruited 46 transgender and nonbinary individuals to participate in seven focus groups conducted in urban, suburban, and rural locations throughout Colorado. TNB participants consistently engaged …

Unmet Healthcare Need Due To Cost Concerns Among U.S. Transgender And Gender-Expansive Adults: Results From A National Survey, Luisa Kcomt, Kevin M. Gorey, Betty Jo Barrett, Dana S. Levin, Jill Grant, Sean Esteban Mccabe

Social Work Publications

This study examines past-year unmet healthcare need due to cost experienced by transgender and gender-expansive (TGE) adults in the United States in the context of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). It also aims to estimate the importance of having health insurance among TGE Americans (transgender men, transgender women, nonbinary/genderqueer people, and cross-dressers). Data were from the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey (N ¼ 19,157 adults, aged 25 to 64 years). Multivariable logistic regression models were used to determine the adjusted odds ratios (AOR) and 95 percent confidence intervals (CI) of TGE individuals’ past-year unmet healthcare need due to …

"Queer Even In Safe Spaces: Homeless, Shelter Failures, And The Queer Community", Kara West

Audre Lorde Writing Prize

Privileged groups consistently expect marginalized group identities to provide comfort, be it in the way the members actually showcase their identities, the work they do for society, or their general respect for the status quo. The queer community, specifically, has long been subject to prejudice and violence, and while tolerance is slowly increasing in the United States, the present day is no exception. Queer folks in the US are even much more likely to be homeless or in domestic violence situations than their heterosexual counterparts. Furthermore, once in vulnerable housing situations, queer folks are dangerously less likely to receive the …

Holistic Analysis Of Global Feminism Publications: A Bibliometric Evaluation Of Feminism Literature Between 1975 And 2017, Engin Şenel Dr, Seher Doğruer Şenel Dr., Ghouse Modin Nabeesab Mamdapur Mr.

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Bibliometrics is a relatively novel statistical branch investigating academic publications in a certain field. Although there has been an increasing popularity of bibliometric studies in recent years, scientific literature lacks a holistic analysis of feminism literature. To the best of our knowledge our study was the first bibliometric analysis of the publications in feminism literature. All data of this study was obtained from Web of Science databases. All documents produced in feminism literature between 1975 and 2017 were included. A total of 44,920 published articles were found. The peak year of feminism literature was 2017 with 3378 articles. English was …

Promoting Health, Justice And Well-Being Of Minnesota's Lgbtq+ Community: Banning Conversion Therapy, Katelin Farmer, Ashley Hansen, Chelesa Schweim, Sarah Petersen

Master of Social Work Student Policy Advocacy Briefs

There are 853 cities in Minnesota, and only two have enacted protections for LGBTQ+ people from the harmful practice of conversion therapy. All Minnesotans deserve access to safe, ethical, affirming, and evidence-based mental health care.

Colon Cancer Care Of Hispanic People In California: Paradoxical Barrio Protections Seem Greatest Among Vulnerable Populations, Keren M. Escobar, Mollie Sivaram, Kevin M. Gorey, Isaac N. Luginaah, Sindu M. Kanjeekal, Frances C. Wright

Social Work Publications

Background: We examined paradoxical and barrio advantaging effects on cancer care among socioeconomically vulnerable Hispanic people in California. Methods: We secondarily analyzed a colon cancer cohort of 3,877 non-Hispanic white (NHW) and 735 Hispanic people treated between 1995 and 2005. A third of the cohort was selected from high poverty neighborhoods. Hispanic enclaves and Mexican American (MA) barrios were neighborhoods where 40% or more of the residents were Hispanic or MA. Key analyses were restricted to high poverty neighborhoods. Results: Hispanic people were more likely to receive chemotherapy (RR=1.18), especially men in Hispanic enclaves (RR=1.33) who were also advantaged on …

Healthcare Avoidance Due To Anticipated Discrimination Among Transgender People: A Call To Create Trans-Affirmative Environments, Luisa Kcomt, Kevin M. Gorey, Betty Jo Barrett, Sean Esteban Mccabe

Social Work Publications

Transgender people encounter interpersonal and structural barriers to healthcare access that contribute to their postponement or avoidance of healthcare, which can lead to poor physical and mental health outcomes. Using the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, this study examined avoidance of healthcare due to anticipated discrimination among transgender adults aged 25 to 64 (N ¼ 19,157). Multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted to test whether gender identity/expression, socio-demographic, and transgender-specific factors were associated with healthcare avoidance. Almost one-quarter of the sample (22.8%) avoided healthcare due to anticipated discrimination. Transgender men had increased odds of healthcare avoidance (AOR ¼ 1.32, 95% CI …

“Las Mamás No Son Putas”: Percepciones Y Experiencias De Embarazo Y Maternidad En Trabajadoras Sexuales En Buenos Aires / Mothers Are Not Prostitutes: Perceptions And Experiences Of Pregnancy And Motherhood Among Sex Workers In Buenos Aires, Fiona Kennedy

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

En Buenos Aires, la gran mayoría de las trabajadoras sexuales también son madres. Sin embargo, ha habido pocos estudios en Argentina sobre los vínculos entre el trabajo sexual y la maternidad y las experiencias de embarazo para las trabajadoras sexuales. Las trabajadoras sexuales en Buenos Aires experimentan estigmatización y violencia institucional en múltiples entornos, lo que afecta tanto el acceso a la salud como el bienestar general. Este estudio tiene como objetivo examinar cómo estas vías afectan a las trabajadoras sexuales en la maternidad y el embarazo, con el fin de encontrar áreas de intervención. La mayoría de esta investigación …

Whose Land Of The Free? Latina Transgender Immigrants In The United States, Luis R. Alvarez-Hernandez

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Transgender women from Latin America are driven to migrate to the United States in pursuit of a place where they can escape violence and discrimination. However, their experience in the United States continues to be one of oppression. Transgender Latina immigrants in the United States are the target of systematic oppression and interpersonal violence that affect their overall health and well-being. These experiences have led many transgender Latina immigrants to assume leadership roles and to organise social movements in demand for their human rights and dignity in the United States. Recommendations are provided for community leaders, policymakers, and academics.

The Impact Of Microaggressions And Minority Stress On The Psychological Well-Being Of Emerging Adult Sexual Minorities Of Color, Michelle G. Thompson

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Microaggressions impact psychological well-being (PWB) among sexual minorities and people of color (POC). Research to date has explored this relationship among White sexual minorities and POC independently, and not among sexual minorities of color (SMPOC). SMPOC may be at an even greater risk for low PWB due to compounded microaggressions. Emerging adults are also at risk for low PWB, but little is known about PWB among SMPOC emerging adults. The current study examined microaggressions and PWB among emerging adult SMPOC; it also examined outness and PWB among adult sexual minorities. It was hypothesized that: a) SMPOC would report greater microaggressions …

Multiplicative Advantages Of Hispanic Men Living In Hispanic Enclaves: Intersectionality In Colon Cancer Care: A Research Note, Keren M. Escobar, Mollie Sivaram, Kevin M. Gorey

Social Work Publications

We examined Hispanic enclave paradoxical effects on cancer care among socioeconomically vulnerable people in pre-Obamacare California. We conducted a secondary analysis of a historical cohort of 511 Hispanic and 1,753 non-Hispanic white people with colon cancer. Hispanic enclaves were neighborhoods where 40% or more of the residents were Hispanic, mostly first-generation Mexican American immigrants. An interaction of ethnicity, gender, and Hispanic enclave status was observed such that the protective effects of living in a Hispanic enclave were larger for Hispanic men, particularly married Hispanic men, than women. Risks were also exposed among other study groups: the poor, the inadequately insured, …

Sr. Barbara Joanne: Prison Ministry, Amayrani Lopez

Ask a Sister: Interview Wisdom from Catholic Women Religious

This paper includes an interview with Barbara Joanne, a woman part of a Roman Catholic religious congregation and a teacher for about 20 years, and her experiences with prison ministry.

Sex Trafficking Of Transgender And Gender Nonconforming Youth In The United States, Meaghan Tomasiewicz

Center for the Human Rights of Children

There is a growing body of research from a variety of disciplines highlighting the overrepresentation of LGBTQ identified individuals among sex trafficked and commercially sexually exploited (CSE) youth. A much smaller subset of this research specifically focuses on transgender female youth. Transgender male, GNC, and intersex youth are largely excluded from the available literature. The issues and obstacles faced by the transgender and GNC communities require specialized services that are not necessarily applicable to the LGBTQ community as a whole due to population-specific healthcare, mental health, and safety factors in addition to employment discrimination, housing discrimination, and familial rejection. By …

Affirming Strengths-Based Models Of Practice, Trevor G. Gates, Brian Kelly

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

Affirming and strengths- based practice with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals and communities started to become more mainstream in the 1970s and 1980s and continues today. Whereas stigmatization of LGBTQ individuals and communities was once the accepted norm, most mainstream professional organizations in social work and allied helping professions today treat LGBTQ identity as part of the normal spectrum of human experience and support affirming and strengths- based models of practice with LGBTQ communities (American Counseling Association, 2013; American Psychological Association [APA], 2008; Council on Social Work Education [CSWE], 2015; National Association of Social Workers, 2005). In …

Practice With The Gay Male Community, Michael P. Dentato Phd, Msw, Tyler M. Argüello, Courtney Wilson

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

Understanding the complex needs of the unique and widely diverse gay male community underscores the importance of practitioners to robustly examine the wide array of sociocultural, lifespan, health and mental health factors. While gay men are a subpopulation of the broader lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community, practitioners should realize that they have unique needs associated with their sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, and gender expression sometimes similar to their LBTQ counterparts but often separate from factors that impact LBTQ individuals. In the same fashion, while gay men may encounter similar life challenges as their nongay counterparts separate …

Preparing Social Workers For Practice With Lgbt Populations Affected By Substance Use: Perceptions From Students, Alumni And Service Providers, Michael P. Dentato Phd, Msw, Brian Kelly, Michael R. Lloyd, Nikki Busch

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

Trends in the field of service among those with alcohol and other drug addictions highlight the urgent need for schools of social work to effectively train students to serve clients with substance use disorders, and have cultural humility to effectively serve disproportionately affected LGBT consumers. Online surveys and interviews examined perceptions of graduate social work students and alumni in a certified alcohol and drug counselor program, along with several service providers within an urban setting in the US. Results indicated that students and alumni did not feel adequately prepared through coursework to practice with LGBT populations affected by substance use, …

The Lipstick Project, The University Of Maine Honors College

Cultural Affairs Distinguished Lecture Series

Leigh Boyle will share her story of The Lipstick Project, which grew out of her 2010 volunteer work in a women's hospital in Northern Ethiopia. The hospital cares for women with obstetric fistula, a condition resulting from prolonged, obstructed labor that leaves women chronically incontinent and ostracized. Leigh began giving weekly manicures to the isolated women, an act that proved life-giving for all. Upon returning home to Vancouver, Leigh saw similar need for restorative work in modern healthcare and established The Lipstick Project, a woman run volunteer organization that provides free, professional spa treatments to people in hospice and hospitals …

The First-Year University Experience For Sexual Minority Students: A Grounded Theory Exploration, Edward Alessi, Beth Sapiro, Sarilee Kahn, Shelley L. Craig

Department of Social Work and Child Advocacy Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This exploratory study used grounded theory to understand the role of minority stress on the first-year experience of lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and questioning emerging adults attending a university in the Northeastern part of the United States. Twenty-one lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and questioning sophomores participated in focus groups asking them to reflect on their first year of university. Themes suggest that participants tackle multiple challenges simultaneously: the developmental task of increased independence and stressors specific to lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and questioning adults such as encountering stigma. Furthermore, participants manifested resilience in response to minority stress. Participants joined campus …

Profound Barriers To Basic Cancer Care Most Notably Experienced By Uninsured Women: Historical Note On The Present Policy Considerations, Amy M. Alberton, Kevin M. Gorey

Social Work Publications

America is considering the replacement of Obamacare with Trumpcare. This historical cohort revisited pre-Obamacare colon cancer care among people living in poverty in California (N = 5,776). It affirmed a gender by health insurance hypothesis on nonreceipt of surgery such that uninsured women were at greater risk than uninsured men. Uninsured women were three times as likely as insured women to be denied access to such basic care. Similar men were two times as likely. America is bound to repeat such profound health care inequities if Obamacare is repealed. Instead, Obamacare ought to be retained and strengthened in all states, …

A Comparison Of Health Disparities Among Transgender Adults In Colorado (Usa) By Race And Income, Kristie L. Seelman, Sarah R. Young, Megan Tesene, Luis R. Alvarez-Hernandez, Leo Kattari

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Transgender individuals face heightened risks for discrimination, harassment, and violence that impact their psychosocial well-being and physical health. However, few studies have thoroughly examined the general physical and mental health of transgender adults or within-group health differences by race/ethnicity and income. To that end, after controlling for health insurance status, age, and engagement in exercise, this study asks: (a) are transgender people of color more likely than White transgender individuals to experience poor health outcomes?, and (b) is lower annual household income among transgender adults associated with poorer health outcomes? The current study analyzes secondary data from a survey of …

Nasty People: An Illustrated Guide To Understanding Sex, Sophia Weaver

Senior Honors Projects

Sex made me and it probably made you too, but for many of us sex remains a mystery for our entire lives. I see sexual images every day, but I rarely hear it discussed openly or factually. This is problematic. If most people are having sex and most people have a lot of misinformation about it, STDs, unwanted pregnancies and even sexual assaults are much more likely. Research suggests that increased (and well developed) sex ed. can reduce all of the possible negative outcomes of sexual misinformation. My observations of everyday life and my research in academia have given me …

Poverty At St. Catherine University, Louise Edwards-Simpson

Events and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Guidelines For Affirmative Social Work Education: Enhancing The Climate For Lgbqq Students, Staff, And Faculty In Social Work Education, S. L. Craig, E. J. Alessi, M. Fisher-Borne, Michael P. Dentato, A. Austin, M. Paceley, A. Wagaman, T. Arguello, T. Lewis, J.E. Balestrery, R. Van Der Horn

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

This report is intended to provide guidelines for the creation of social work educational environments that are affirmative of lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and questioning (LGBQQ) students, faculty, administrators, and staff. Creating affirmative social work educational environments for transgender and gender nonconforming populations is addressed in a companion document, Guidelines for Transgender and Gender Nonconforming (TGNC) Inclusive Social Work Education.

Vicarious Battering: The Experience Of Intervening At A Domestic Violence-Focused Supervised Visitation Center, Tracee Parker

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

This descriptive phenomenological research illustrated the experience of women who worked in a supervised visitation program (SVP) specifically developed to address safety concerns related to allegations of domestic violence. The SVP policies and procedures were designed not only to prevent physical assault and abduction but also to intervene in vicarious battering—a term introduced to describe the attempts by men who battered to exert control over, undermine, and/or intimidate the mothers of their children via interactions with their children and the visitation staff. The results of this research demonstrated the challenges of intervening in the context of court-ordered supervised visitation. Data …