Social Work Commons^™

A Qualitative Study Exploring The Perceptions Of Social Workers Concerning Independent Living Programs In Conjunction With Post-Secondary Education After New Jersey Foster Youth "Age-Out" Of The Foster Care System, Patrick L. Beatty

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The purpose of this research study is to investigate the perceptions of New Jersey social workers regarding potential barriers that may exist with foster care youth maturity development, independent living programs emphasizing foster care alumni post-secondary education achievement, and social worker departmental training relating to their understanding of independent living programs.

The design of this qualitative study focused on New Jersey Division of Children & Family volunteer participants consisting of three district office manager interviews, and three social worker focus group discussions from specific geographic locations throughout New Jersey. The interview and focus group questions were developed after comprehensive research …

Designing A Measure: Measuring Social Workers' Attitudes Toward Lgbt Youth In Child Welfare, Christi E. Bell, Raul A. Salcedo

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study reports the results of an exploratory factor analysis conducted to analyze the reliability of a pilot instrument created to evaluate social workers’ attitudes toward LGBT youth in the foster care system. The sample (n = 60) included social workers, supervisors, and staff from the County of San Bernardino Children and Family Services. Data were collected from February 2011 to March 2011. A two factor solution yielded the best results; Chronbach’s alpha for factor one yielded a strong result for internal consistency reliability (α = .777) and for factor two yielded a less strong result (α = .628). Strategies …

Reconceptualizing Autism Spectrum Within Diagnostic And Statistical Manual, Fifth Edition: Clinicians’ Perspectives, Lori A. Dobson

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

This qualitative study examined the clinicians’ perspectives on the reconceptualization of Autism Spectrum Disorder within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (2013), also referred to as DSM-5. Data were collected through six semi-structured interviews (n = 6) with clinical professionals who work directly with children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), otherwise known as Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD). Clinical professionals included licensed independent clinical social workers, licensed clinical social workers, and licensed psychologists. Grounded theory method was used with open coding to analyze various themes and subthemes within transcribed interviews. This study examined participants’ perceptions …

Toolkit For Mental Health Professionals, Social Workers, And Guidance Counselors Working With Immigrant And Refugee Students, Rojina Maya Mccarthy

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The purpose of this Capstone project is to develop a best practices toolkit for social workers and mental health professionals working with immigrant and refugee students in school setting. The toolkit is intended to be disseminated by The Advocates for Human Rights to social workers, guidance counselors, and other mental health professionals who work with immigrant and refugee children. This toolkit will also be used by the staff in the organization.

Heteronormativity, Homonormativity, And Gender Variance In The Classroom : Perceptions And Reflections From School Social Workers, Dirk De Jong

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Public school personnel encounter increasing numbers of gender-variant and transgender students, according to anecdotal reports. Very little is known about the response of social workers to this rather new phenomenon. This qualitative study, framed conceptually by notions from Queer theory, attempted to explore the perceptions, attitudes, and self-reported practices of a sample of school social workers in the Northeastern United States with respect to gender socialization and gender variance in the classroom. The data were collected by way of individual interviews.

The Development And Pilot Of A New Macro Social Work Field Evaluation Instrument, Sarah P. Maynard

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The dissertation study explores the complex concepts of macro social work student competence and describes the development and pilot of a field evaluation that employs the use of qualitative student descriptors in the evaluation of macro social work students. A qualitative student descriptor is a short statement that describes a behavior of a social work student. When used for field evaluation purposes, field instructors are given a list of qualitative student descriptors that cover a range of competency levels. Field instructors are asked to indicate which statements best describe their student. Each qualitative student descriptor is linked with a 1-5 …