Social Work Commons^™

Resiliency Factors Related To Substance Use/Resistance: Perceptions Of Native Adolescents Of The Southwest, Margaret A. Waller, Scott K. Okamoto, Bart Miles, Donna E. Hurdle

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This exploratory, qualitative study examined risk and protective factors influencing drug and alcohol use and/or resistance of Native youth in the Southwest. Thirty-two Native middle school students participated in 10 focus groups that explored their experiences with alcohol and drugs in their school and reservation communities. The findings indicate a complex interaction of both risk and protective factors related to substance use. Respondents' cousins and siblings, in particular, played a key role in their decisions to use or resist drugs. Implications for social work practice are discussed.

The Lived Experience Of Welfare Reform In Drug-Using Welfare-Needy Households In Inner-City New York, Eloise Dunlap, Andrew Golub, Bruce D. Johnson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Welfare reform has transformed a needs-based family income support into temporary assistance for persons entering the workforce. This paper uses observations from an ethnographic study covering the period from 1995- 2001 to examine the impact on drug-using welfare-needy households in inner-city New York. The analysis suggests that studies may underestimate the extent to which substance use is associated with welfare problems. Nearly all of these already distressed households lost their AFDC/TANF benefits, had difficulty with work programs, and were having more difficulty covering expenses. The conclusion highlights ways to better study this population and policy initiatives that could help them …

The Social Problem Of Depression: A Multi-Theoretical Analysis, Rich Furman, Kimberly Bender

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the social problem of depression from a multi-theoretical perspective. It explores depression through the lens of two psychologically based theories of human behavior, existential theory and cognitive theory, as well as through the vehicle of two sociological theories, Marxist theory and the theory of oppression. By understanding how each of these theories explains depression, social workers may be helped to see the complexity of treating the problem. It is the belief of the authors that social work literature, which is often dominated by reductionist, quantitativelybased research studies, has increasingly ignored theoretical explorations …

Group Therapy For Incarcerated Women Who Experienced Interpersonal Violence: A Pilot Study, Rebekah G. Bradley, Diane R. Follingstad

CRVAW Faculty Journal Articles

This study evaluated effectiveness of group therapy for incarcerated women with histories of childhood sexual and/or physical abuse. The intervention was based on a two-stage model of trauma treatment and included Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills and writing assignments. We randomly assigned 24 participants to group treatment (13 completed) and 25 to a no-contact comparison condition (18 completed). We evaluated treatment effects, using the Beck Depression Inventory, Inventory of Interpersonal Problems, and Trauma Symptom Inventory. The data demonstrate significant reductions in PTSD, mood, and interpersonal symptoms in the treatment group.

The First Four Months In A New Foster Placement: Psychosocial Adjustment, Parental Contact And Placement Disruption, James G. Barber, Paul H. Delfabbro

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Intake and four-month follow-up measures were obtained for 235 children referred into a new foster care placement over a 12-month period in the Australian State of South Australia. Twenty-five percent of the sample returned home within 4-months, and for those who remained in care throughout, there had been modest gains in behavior, psychological adjustment and adjustment at school. On the other hand, there were considerable levels of placement disruption, a high degree of non-compliance with parental visiting plans, and a high proportion of children fell outside ninety-five percent confidence intervals for the general adolescent population on most well-being measures, particularly …

Review Of The Environment: Its Role In Psychosocial Functioning And Psychotherapy. Carolyn Saari. Reviewed By Timothy Page., Timothy Page

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Carolyn Saari, The Environment: Its Role in Psychosocial Functioning and Psychotherapy. New York: Columbia University Press, 2002. $49.50 hardcover, $22.00 papercover.

"Are You Beginning To See A Pattern Here?" Family And Medical Discourses Shape The Story Of Black Infant Mortality, Elaine R. Cleeton

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Postmodern and poststructuralist theorizations of the interrelations of the particular and the universal have identified women's bodies to be the last frontier for scientific discovery leading to and satisfying the modern compulsion to stabilize and control life from birth to death. This institutional ethnography of one city's response to an elevated infant mortality rate among the babies of African American urban, impoverished women explores their discursive transformation from single mothers who cannot begin prenatal care before the second trimester because too few physicians will treat Medicaid patients, into sexually-immoral, illegaldrug- using women who deliberately harm their babies. The study locates …

A Child's Death: Lessons From Health Care Providers' Texts, Nancy M. Bell, Marie L. Campbell

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article originates from a research study that explores 'what happened' to a 10-year-old child with Rett syndrome, who died from "severe malnutrition" according to a Coroners Service inquest jury. The inquest evidence analyzed, using institutional ethnography, shows that approximately one week prior to this child's death three health care providers (an emergency physician, a hospice volunteer and a home care nurse) conducted individual assessments of the child. Child protection workers were also involved. Textual analysis of the health care providers' records shows how the child was officially and textually constructed as 'dying from a terminal illness' in contrast to …

Day Treatment Programs For Adults With Severe And Persistent Mental Illness: Effectiveness Measured In Rates Of Recidivism, Pamela Jo' Gatfield

Theses Digitization Project

This study measured the effectiveness of rehabilitative day treatment (RDT) programs for persons with severe and persistant mental illness in San Bernardino County. The effectiveness of RDT services was determined by rates of recidivism.

Factors In Older Adults' Resistance To Substance Abuse Treatment, Donnie Redl

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that cause resistance in older adults to participation in substance abuse treatment programs.

A Process Evaluation Of The Riverside County Dependency Recovery Drug Court, Philip Marshall Breitenbucher, Sean Collins Sullivan

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the implementation of the "Key Components" as identified by the Department of Justice (1998) into the Riverside County Dependency Recovery Drug Court Program.

Inadequate Substance Abuse Assessment As A Contributory Factor To Child Abuse And Neglect, Gary Eugene Graves

Theses Digitization Project

This study examined an important, yet underreported, area of family service agency assessments, the failure to adequately screen for substance abuse issues. A self-report screening instrument was used to accurately determine substance abuse frequency rates, instead of using the current clinician-directed questioning. New agency clients were randomly assigned to either the experimental group (self-report) or the control group (clinician-directed) to determine if assessment accuracy improved.

Hiding In Plain Sight: A Practical Guide To Identifying Victims Of Trafficking In The United States, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes