The Resilience Of Female Survivors Of Intimate Partner Violence In Southwest Nigeria: An Interdisciplinary Analysis, Tobi F. Oloyede

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Female survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) in Nigeria endure harsh and traumatic experiences that affect their rights as women and their well-being. As the phenomenon of IPV persists in Nigeria, it is not only a family problem but a critical social and psychological problem. This study examined Nigerian female survivors’ hidden strength, agency, and resilience, rather than their powerlessness and vulnerability. Analysis of survey questionnaires, interviews, and secondary scholarship reveals that some Nigerian female survivors of IPV are able to cope whilst navigating stressful and traumatic experiences. The results also show that survivors’ ability to thrive and cope under …

Religious/Spiritual Struggles And Spiritual Resilience In Marginalised Older Adult, Holly Nelson-Becker, Michael Thomas

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

Spiritual and religious struggles emerge in times where life meaning is unclear, has changed or is challenged. Resilience has been addressed in terms of psychological, social, emotional and physical capacity or competence related to struggle. However, there is a relatively sparse literature defining and addressing spiritual resilience, both what it is and how it is demonstrated. This is especially true of the oppressive and marginalised experiences of diverse older persons. This paper asks how older persons have responded to life challenge and spiritual struggle through spiritually resilient responses. It provides a foundation for the discussion of spiritual resilience in older …

Identifying Protective Factors Against Overweight And Obesity Within The Social Environment Of Women With Low Incomes., Monica M. Adams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Over two-thirds of the United States population have overweight or obese (OW/OB) weight statuses due in large part to an obesogenic environment that encourages unhealthful weight related behaviors. The obesogenic environment appears to place a larger burden on women with low incomes as they experience OW/OB disproportionately compared to other groups. Studies seeking to understand the impact of the obesogenic environment on this population have been deficit focused, largely examining environmental risk factors for OW/OB and ignoring protective factors against it. Most women with low incomes do not have an obese weight status and some women who have OW/OB statuses …

Exploring Vicarious Resilience Among Practitioners Working With Clients Who Have Experienced Traumatic Events, Adam Reynolds

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Vicarious Resilience is the positive impact that practitioners may experience when working with individuals who have lived through traumatic events. The effects of this phenomenon may be noticed as changes in life goals and perspective, client-inspired hope, increased recognition of clients’ spirituality as a therapeutic resource, increased capacity for resourcefulness, increased self-awareness and self-care practices, increased consciousness about power and privilege relative to clients’ social location, and increased capacity for remaining present while listening to trauma narratives.

While prior research into vicarious resilience has focused primarily on practitioners in trauma-specific settings, this quantitative dissertation studied the experiences of a convenience …

"The Utmost Strength I Can Bear": Strategies And Psychological Costs Of Mothering Within Political Violence, Cindy A. Sousa, Mona El-Zuhairi, Manahil Siddiqi

Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research Faculty Research and Scholarship

Though certainly not women’s only identity or set of responsibilities for women in conflict settings, political violence creates distinct challenges for mothers due to the additional burdens of care-taking in these contexts. Yet, given the paucity of research on the topic, we still are operating without a clear understanding of how political violence jeopardizes maternal well-being and care-taking practices. Drawing on feminist perspectives on mothering, in the analyses presented here, authors use content analysis to explore mothering and political violence from five focus groups with women in Palestine. Results demonstrate the considerable suffering mothers and children endure in war; the …

African American Women’S Use Of Spirituality To Cope With Intimate Partner Violence, Vanessa S. Barnes Bey

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a widespread public health problem in the United States (U.S.) linked to physical, mental, emotional, and psychological problems for women who experience it. Previous researchers indicated that African American (AA) women in the U.S. experience more severe effects from IPV than women in other ethnic groups in the U.S. The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to identify and report AA women’s lived experiences of using spirituality to cope with IPV who were not actively engaged in organized religious practices during the time of the abuse. Semi-structured audiotaped phone and face-to-face interviews were used …

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Patients' Sociological Resilience, Self-Determination, And Decision-Making For Life-Sustaining Treatments, Jeremy Jon Van Tress

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

People with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) suffer from a rare, progressive, untreatable, and fatal neuromuscular disease. Their decision-making for life-sustaining treatments may not be fully self-deterministic. While researchers have examined resilience and self-determination in people with mental health problems and chronic illness, none have researched these variables in ALS patients from a socioecological framework. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between people with ALS socioecological resilience, self-determination, and decision-making for life-sustaining treatments. A cross-sectional concurrent mixed-methods design was used, with online surveys completed by 197 people with ALS who were solicited through the National ALS Registry. …

Investigating Whether Ecological Models Of Community-Oriented Variables Improve Prediction Of Childhood Resilience Over A Set Of Personal Characteristic Variables Such As Impulse Control, Emotional Regulation, Relational Motivation, And Self-Reliance, Vinod Kumar Srivastava

Theses and Dissertations--Social Work

Children experiencing trauma and entering child protective services have been continuously increasing. Problems associated with childhood trauma, such as neurodevelopmental disorder, trauma and stress-related disorders, personality disorders, substance use disorder, externalizing and internalizing disorders, academic problems, relational difficulties, and delinquent behaviors, have been found increasing despite advances in trauma and translational research. Children’s trauma is mostly interpersonal in nature and nested in their immediate environment. There is a need for a change in focus from helping children to overcome challenges and adversities to strengthening the resilience-building process by utilizing functional strengths in the environment to achieve sustainable outcomes. This study’s …

Hope, Courage, And Resilience In The Lives Of Transgender Women Of Color, Nadine Ruff, Amy B. Smoyer, Jean Breny

The Qualitative Report

There is a lack of qualitative and strengths-based knowledge about the lived experience of transgender women of color in the US. To address this research gap, a Photovoice project was undertaken with five transgender women living in a small urban area. Thematic analysis of the participants’ discussion of their photographs identified three major themes: hope, courage, and resilience. Analysis suggests a framework for understanding these women’s lived experiences and the psychosocial tools that they use to negotiate their daily lives and persevere in the face of interpersonal and structural oppression.

Towards A Strengths Orientation In Child Welfare: Theory, Pedagogy And Practice, Mary M. Kirk

Doctor of Social Work Banded Dissertations

Underpinning social work education and social work practice are approaches that embrace strengths and resilience perspectives. Social work education aimed at students preparing for work in child welfare is no exception. This banded dissertation consists of three products that address linkages between strengths and resilience perspectives to social work education and practice with families involved in child welfare. The first paper is a conceptual article that discusses engaged pedagogy, transformative learning and reflective teaching pedagogies specific to child welfare-focused social work education. The paper explores the cogency of these pedagogies as powerful approaches for educating and preparing social work students …

“Waha Ehsa Tha, Idhar Ehsa Hai” (It Was Like That Back Home, But It Is Like This Here): Family Violence Experiences Of Indian And Pakistani Immigrant Women In The Greater Toronto Area, Dhwani Joshi

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

There is a paucity of qualitative scholarship on Indian and Pakistani immigrant women’s experiences of family violence. Further, existing scholarship on this topic seldom explores the unique experiences of distinct South Asian groups such as Indian and Pakistani immigrant women. This thesis addressed this gap in the literature by qualitatively examining family violence among immigrant Indian and Pakistani women in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). A case study methodology was used to explore two research questions: 1) What are the cultural specificities of family violence as experienced by Indian and Pakistani immigrant women in the GTA? and 2) How are …

Strengths And Coping Strategies In The Life Narratives Of Sexual Minority Women, Laurie Drabble, Karen F. Trocki, Brenda Salcedo, Bobbi R. Morales, Rachael Korcha

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

This study explored self-described strengths and strategies for coping with stress among sexual minority women (SMW), drawing on qualitative narratives of sexual minority and heterosexual women who were recruited from a population-based sample. In-depth follow-up qualitative telephone interviews were conducted with 48 women who had participated in the National Alcohol Survey, a U.S. population-based survey. Participants included 25 SMW and 16 matched exclusively heterosexual women. Narrative data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis and constant comparison to explore the study aim, with an emphasis on themes that diverged or that were particularly salient for SMW relative to heterosexual women. Strengths …

Incorporating Social System Dynamics In The Columbia River Basin: Food-Energy-Water Resilience And Sustainability Modeling In The Yakima River Basin, Jennifer E. Givens, Julie Padowski, Christian D. Guzman, Keyvan Malek, Rebecca Witinok-Huber, Barbara Cosens, Michael Briscoe, Jan Boll, Jennifer Adam

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

In the face of climate change, achieving resilience of desirable aspects of food-energy-water (FEW) systems already strained by competing multi-scalar social objectives requires interdisciplinary approaches. This study is part of a larger effort exploring “Innovations in the Food-Energy-Water Nexus (INFEWS)” in the Columbia River Basin (CRB) through coordinated modeling and simulated management scenarios. Here, we focus on a case study and conceptual mapping of the Yakima River Basin (YRB), a sub-basin of the CRB. Previous research on FEW system management and resilience includes some attention to social dynamics (e.g., economic and governance systems); however, more attention to social drivers and …

Psychosocial Capacity Building In Response To Cascading Disasters: A Culturally Informed Approach, Joshua Miller, Gianluca Pescaroli

School for Social Work: Faculty Publications

The dominant paradigm guiding mental health professionals responding to major disasters is the field of 'disaster mental health', which historically focused more on psychological factors than social factors, privileging individual over collective interventions. However, resilience to complex events is a result of multiple drivers, such as social networks and local culture, that must be considered together in the assessment and planning process. This paper adopts a multi-disciplinary perspective for disaster response, applying a social-ecological approach to disaster risk reduction which has been developed through practice and a review of the literature. In particular, we investigated how psychosocial healing, collective efficacy …

A Longitudinal Examination Of Factors Associated With Network Bridging Among Ymsm: Implications For Hiv Prevention, Dexter R. Voisin

Faculty Scholarship

Social-environmental factors may be associated with social network stability, which has implications for HIV acquisition. However, the link between social-environmental factors, network composition and HIV risk has not been examined previously among a city-population based sample of young Black men who have sex with Men (YBMSM). Respondent driven sampling was used to recruit a cohort of 618 YMBSM. Respondents were evaluated at baseline, 9 and 18 months beginning June 2013. A logistic regression model was used to assess the relationship between bridging (i.e. having non-redundant contacts in one’s network, indicating network instability) and social-environmental factors and HIV risk factors between …

Does Resilience Occur From Predisposed Characteristics, Or From Experiences, Moments, And/Or People The Individual Encounters Throughout His/Her Childhood, Marlene Anceno

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study explores how resilience is gained in childhood. Therefore the question becomes does resilience occur from predisposed characteristics or does it occur from experiences, moments, and people the individual encounters during their childhood. This project presents the results of a qualitative study of 15 master degree student participants that gave responses based on their childhood experiences. One of the requirements for this study, was that each participant had to have suffered from being at risk of factors that could have decreased their resilience, called contextual risks. There were three themes that emerged from this study and they are strengths, …

Resilience And Resistance: How The Inland Empire Transgender Community Thrives, Raul Angel Maldonado

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Society’s current focus on the transgender community is complicated, and further heightened by the lack of protections for the transgender community. Current studies only assess the hardships transgender individuals face and the impact they have on their well-being. This study sought to explore what effects the lack of resources and support have on the transgender community in the Inland Empire. This study utilized a qualitative approach incorporating semi-structured interviews of participants. The author also sought to explore how the transgender community in this area are able to mitigate any negative experiences. The qualitative data provided rich grounding in understanding the …

Military Social Work: Utilizing Interprofessional Practice And Education To Increase Efficacy, Stephanie Grant

Doctor of Social Work Banded Dissertations

This banded dissertation examines the use of interprofessional practice as a framework to increase efficacy in military social work practice and consists of three distinct but related scholarly products. The first scholarly product is a conceptual article that explores the alignment between the Air Force’s resilience initiative Comprehensive Airman Fitness (CAF) and the Council on Social Work Education’s Advanced Social Work Practice in Military Social Work Standards. Conceptualizing interprofessional practice and the ecological perspective, this article endorses the efforts to advance military social work practice competencies by connecting with CAF and other Department of Defense (DoD) resilience initiatives. Leveraging resources …

Parent-Child Interaction Therapy And Resilience Within Child Welfare, Katelyn Blair

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Children in foster care and their substitute caregivers (i.e., foster parents) lack access to evidence-based interventions designed to 1) mitigate the effects of maltreatment on child behavior and 2) strengthen parenting skills needed to effectively care for children with a history of maltreatment. Previous research has established that Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is an evidence-based intervention for children with a history of maltreatment. Yet, PCIT’s broader impact on child welfare outcomes (i.e., placement and permanence) and the implications of adapting PCIT for foster families remains largely unknown. Furthermore, intervention effects on children’s resilience remain largely unstudied, although interventions that …

Strengths And Resiliencies Of Black Msm In New York City Who Maintain Hiv-Seronegativity, Jagadisa-Devasri Dacus

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Black gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) carry the greatest burden of the HIV epidemic in the United States. Because Black MSM’s identities lie at the intersection of race and sexual orientation, they are more likely to experience negative social determinants of health, which have been associated with greater HIV acquisition. However, the majority of Black MSM maintain seronegativity, but few public health studies have identified what contributes to their seronegativity maintenance. In order to address this gap in knowledge, I explored maintained HIV-seronegativity among a cohort of Black MSM in New York City (NYC). …

When There Are No Therapists: A Psychoeducational Group For People Who Have Experienced Social Disasters, Joshua Miller, Xiying Wang

School for Social Work: Faculty Publications

A social disaster is when categories of people are politically or socially targeted by virtue of their social identities and suffer ongoing targeting and oppression. Survivors of social disasters often experience similar traumatic symptoms as those of survivors of natural disasters but, unlike most other types of disasters, the threats that caused the trauma and the conditions that undermine survivor’s identity, safety, trust, and sense of control continue to exist. This article shares a model of a psychoeducational group developed and field tested by the authors and used with a group of people targeted because of their queer identities.

Muslim Veiled Women And Religious Discrimination: A Strength Perspective, Aishath Shizleen

Theses : Honours

The word ‘Islamophobia’ has gained and continues to gain wider currency in both the academic and public sphere. In the recent years, there has been an increase in literature focusing on Muslims and their experiences living in Western societies. It has been established that religious discrimination impacts negatively on self-esteem, mental wellbeing and one’s sense of identity. However, there is little research focusing on Muslim veiled women in particular even though it has been established that people who are visibly Muslim are more vulnerable to religious discrimination. This phenomenological study explored the lived experience of Muslim veiled women from South …

An Exploration Of Dementia Friendly Communities From The Perspective Of Persons Living With Dementia, Catherine Hebert

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The growing global prevalence of dementia coupled with a shift in public perception from a hopeless disease to the possibility of living well with dementia has led to the formation of dementia friendly communities (DFC). DFCs are a new phenomenon in the United States, with a gap in knowledge on input from people living with dementia (PLWD). This study investigated DFCs from the perspective of PLWD in Western North Carolina, with the following research questions:

1. How are interactions and relationships experienced by persons living with dementia in the community?
2. How is community engagement experienced by PLWD?
3. To what extent and …

Themes In The Supervision Of Social Care Students In Ireland: Building Resilience, Fiona Mcsweeney

Articles

The field placement is core to the education of social care practitioners and practice teachers’ behaviours influence the learning and development of future practitioners. However the practice teacher role is complex with responsibilities to the agency, clients and the student (Davys & Beddoe, 2000). Twenty practice teachers were interviewed individually about their views of their role, in particular what they saw as most and least important. Inductive thematic analysis resulted in the identification of five themes 1) the nature of the work; 2) acceptance of individuality; 3) commonality and differences from staff; 4) focus on positives and 5) practice involves …

An Exploration Of Resilience And Post-Traumatic Growth Following Traumatic Death, Shannon Henry

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

It is really a paradox that the most violent, traumatic death can lead to transformative growth. Increased resilience, and a new understanding of the value of relationships, assists bereaved in blending the loss of their loved one into their own understanding of what they want life to mean. This systematic review attempted to answer the question of whether resilience and growth can come from a traumatic death. To answer this, the review used empirically based, peerreviewed articles published after 1995. The search of academic journals and sites included, Social Work Abstracts, SocIndex, PsycInfo, and ATLA. Key words searched were, traumatic …

Breaking Free Of Generational Poverty: Empowered Single Mothers Who Overcome The Odds, Angela Trenda

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

The purpose of this study is to understand what differentiates single mothers and their children who are able to break the cycles of generational poverty from the millions of resilient, capable single mother-headed households who remain stuck living in poverty. The research was studied through the lens of ecosystems and empowerment theories. It looked at what helped and hindered single mothers to develop the belief in their abilities, and access necessary resources, to leave poverty within the context of individual, familial, community and broader societal benefits and constraints. This study was a systematic review which included an exhaustive review of …

Culturally Specific Interventions To Support Adolescent Immigrant And Refugee Mental Health, Lynn Whitfield

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

This exploratory qualitative study examines various culturally specific interventions practitioners use to support the mental health needs of adolescent immigrants and refugees. Studies have noted that resilience, family involvement, peer support, art-based interventions, school-based interventions, and accessible community resources are all protective factors that promote positive mental health outcomes for adolescents adjusting to a new host country. The researcher conducted eight semi-structured interviews with three licensed clinical social workers (LICSW), one licensed graduate social worker (LGSW), one psychotherapist with a doctorate in psychology, a school counselor, and two clinical counselors. All of the participants of the study serve the refugee …

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 …

Uncovering The Processes And Consequences Of Egyptian Immigrant Parental Involvement In Their Children’S Education: Bridging Cultural Differences, Hend Shalan

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Abstract

For more than a decade, researchers have concluded that immigrant parents face several barriers to becoming involved in their children’s education. All studies agree that language and cultural differences are the most significant barriers to immigrants’ involvement in their children’s education, yet we know little about what these cultural differences are and how these cultural differences influence the school involvement of immigrant parents. This study integrates theories of cultural differences, acculturation, and culture shock and the corresponding literature to investigate the lesser involvement of immigrant parents in school-related activities.

A focused ethnographic design was employed and a thematic analysis …

The Impact Of Islamophobia On The Muslim American Community : Accounts Of Psychological Suffering, Identity Negotiation, And Collective Trauma, Areeza Ali

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

The rise of Islamophobia has undoubtedly disrupted the identity and way of life of Muslim Americans in the last decade and half. This study centers the voices of eight Muslim Americans discussing the mental health impact of anti-Muslim discrimination and prejudice, the pervasiveness of xenophobic and Islamophobic perspectives in the U.S., and the normalization and acceptance of discrimination as evidenced by the presidential victory of Donald Trump.

The major findings of this study indicate that the marginalization and othering of Muslim Americans have manifested in adverse psychological symptoms including fear, stress, worry, isolation, numbness, desensitization and insecurity. In addition, this …