Social Work Commons^™

Aging Out Of Foster Care Successfully, Kelly Prettyman

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

Annually, in Minnesota, thousands of youth transition out of foster care. The purpose of this content analysis was to explore some of the variables associated with a successful transition while “aging out of” foster care, and to better understand how youth define and experience this transition from their perspective and in their own words. I asked questions such as: what do youth perceive as having helped them, what do they need from formal and informal caregivers, and what might they need as they transition into the greater independence associated with young adulthood. Data were collected from online interviews, documentaries, blogs …

Resilience Among Older Adolescents In Foster Care: The Impact Of Risk And Protective Factors, Svetlana Shpiegel

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

This study explores the phenomenon of resilience among older adolescents in foster care. Data from 351 youths approaching the age of emancipation were examined. Resilience was measured by a composite score combining six domains: educational attainment, and avoidance of teen pregnancy, homelessness, mental illness, substance use and criminal involvement. Increased physical abuse, a history of sexual abuse, placement instability and delinquency in youths’ original families were associated with lower resilience. Non-white race was associated with higher resilience even after risk and protective factors were controlled. These findings highlight factors that contribute to resilient functioning and may be targeted for interventions …

Children Exposed To Intimate Partner Violence: Identifying Differential Effects Of Family Environment On Children's Trauma And Psychopathology Symptoms Through Regression Mixture Models, Shelby Elaine Mcdonald, Sunny Shin, Rosalie Corona, Anna Maternick, Sandra A. Graham-Bermann, Frank R. Ascione, James Herbert Williams

Social Work Publications

The majority of analytic approaches aimed at understanding the influence of environmental context on children's socioemotional adjustment assume comparable effects of contextual risk and protective factors for all children. Using self-reported data from 289 maternal caregiver-child dyads, we examined the degree to which there are differential effects of severity of intimate partner violence (IPV) exposure, yearly household income, and number of children in the family on posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTS) and psychopathology symptoms (i.e., internalizing and externalizing problems) among school-age children between the ages of 7–12 years. A regression mixture model identified three latent classes that were primarily distinguished by …

Incarceration, Identity And Resilience : Understanding The Long-Term Psychological Impacts Of Racial Trauma On Japanese Americans Who Were Imprisoned During World War Ii, Kyla M. J. Lew

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

The purpose of this exploratory study was to deepen the understanding around the impacts of racial trauma and civil rights violations on Japanese Americans’ enduring sense of belonging and legitimacy in the United States. The study used semi-structured interviews with 13 Japanese Americans who were incarcerated during WWII to gather qualitative data around their experiences, in order to explore the long-term psychological impact of imprisonment and additionally, how the psychological effects are related to the current social environment. The major findings of this study are that formerly incarcerated Japanese Americans experience long term psychological consequences as a result of their …

"Resisting Disconnection" : An Exploratory Study Of Transgender Adults' Experiences Of Community Support And Resilience, Aj Metthe

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This qualitative study collected narrative data from transgender adults about their experiences of community support from other transgender individuals and about their experience of their own resilience. Due to previous research findings about the marginalization of transgender populations, particular attention was paid to narrative data that explicitly suggest structural oppression. Narrative data were collected from two samples drawn from adult transgender populations. One sample (N=12) participated in hour-long semi-structured individual interviews (Interview Sample [IS]). Another sample (N=4) participated in a Focus Group [FGS]) conducted at a transgender conference in the northeast.

The major findings that emerged from participants’ reports of …

Beats, Rhymes, Life & Resilience : Hip Hop Therapy With Youth Of Color : A Project Based Upon An Investigation At Beats, Rhymes And Life Inc, Emily S.L. Schwartz

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This study seeks to understand if participation in Therapeutic Activity Groups (TAGS) at Beats Rhymes & Life helps young people to develop greater resilience. In this paper, resilience is defined in two parts: the ability for participants to engage their inner strengths and characteristics to overcome adversity and the capacity to identify and utilize community and interpersonal resources. This study consists of a quantitative analysis to create a revision of the program’s existing pre/post treatment survey and examine resilience as reported by ten youth participants.

The findings revealed that participation in TAGs had a statistically significant impact on participant’s ability …

Renew House: A Place For Teenagers To Find Healing From Adverse/Traumatic Events And Experiences, Annika R. St. John

MSW Capstones

Abstract will go here.

Refusing To Relax My Smile : Building Resistance Through Hip Hop Therapy : A Project Based Upon An Investigation At Beats, Rhymes And Life, Stephanie Clowdus

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This study explores how hip hop therapy programming promotes resilience in youth. Based in Oakland, CA, Beats, Rhymes and Life (BRL) provides hip hop therapy to 12-24 year olds through their Therapeutic Activity Groups (TAGs). The purpose of this study is to establish evidence of how TAGs improve psychological resilience in youth program participants and of BRL’s effectiveness as a culturally congruent mental health provider. This study is part of a larger program evaluation in efforts with five other student researchers completing Smith College School for Social Work theses. Additionally, this study in particular serves as a pilot of a …

From Entrenched To Empowered : The Factors Promoting Resiliency And Healing For Lgbtqia Identified Adult Survivors Of Childhood Sexual Assault, Hal Brown

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

The objective of this study was to examine the experiences of adults, who as a result of their incidents of childhood sexual abuse were predisposed to present with a variety of negative outcomes, in pursuit of identifiable interventions, practices, and supportive factors effective in mitigating the negative outcomes and promoting survivor resiliency. The bulk of the previous studies of the critical elements for survivor resiliency had been conducted in religious communities. Ensuring a sample composed of individuals with access to an identity-based community, noting that community and connectedness had frequently been considered significant, this study was limited to LGBTQIA identified …

"I Own My T!" : The Experience Of Older Transgender People Of Color Regarding Personal Identity, Systems Of Support, And Desires For The Future, Venae N. Rodriguez

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

While it has been widely reported that transgender individuals experience mistreatment in all aspects of life, transgender people of color, who have rarely been the focus of studies, are faced with even higher incidents of bias (Auldridge, et al., 2012; Dunn & Moodie-Mills, 2012; Grant, et al., 2011). Especially absent is writing on older transgender people of color (Auldridge, et al., 2012; Cook-Daniels, 2015; Fredricksen-Goldsen, et al., 2013; Persson, 2009; Van Wagenen, Driskell & Bradford, 2013). Also missing is literature on the resiliency of transgender people of color and transgender elders. Finally, of the few studies that do exist, most …