Social Work Commons^™

Homegrown Stl 4th Annual Regional Summit On The State Of Opportunities For Black Boys And Young Men: Closing The Health, Growth, And Opportunity Gaps, Sean Joe, Maribeth Clifton, Demeisha Carlton-Brown

Center for Social Development Research

Convened annually, HomeGrown StL’s annual regional summit brings together service providers, government officials, private-sector partners, and residents to strengthen, align, and accelerate local collective-impact strategies that support the health, development, and economic mobility of Black boys and young men in St. Louis City and in St. Louis County.

This report summarizes developments from the 4th Regional Summit on the State of Opportunities for Black Boys and Young Men: Closing the Healing, Growth, & Opportunity Gaps, which convened June 3, 2021. Priority Objectives and Key Results developed during the summit are described. In addition, the report details the progress of HomeGrown …

Home And Neighborhood Physical Activity Location Availability Among African American Adolescent Girls Living In Low-Income, Urban Communities: Associations With Objectively Measured Physical Activity, Nicole O'Reilly

Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Based on the ecological model of active living, the neighborhood environment may relate to individual physical activity (PA) behaviors. The purposes of this study were to (1) generate a replicable neighborhood-level physical activity location availability score (PALAS) from data variables associated with physical activity among adolescents and adults, and apply this score to Baltimore City, Maryland, and (2) determine if relationships exist between PA and PA location availability. Geographic information systems (GISs) were used to create the PALAS. Using linear regression models, we examined relations between objectively measured PA among low-income, urban, predominantly African American adolescent girls (n = …

Build The Village That Raises The Child, Homegrown Stl

Center for Social Development Research

HomeGrown STL is an initiative to take on long-standing community disparities by improving the social mobility of the region’s 60,000 black boys and young men in one generation. More than 120 regional leaders and providers working to improve the lives of black boys and young men in St. Louis participated in the second annual HomeGrown STL Summit on February 8, 2018, at the Brown School of Social Work.

Policy Recommendations For Meeting The Grand Challenge To Achieve Equal Opportunity And Justice, Ruth G. Mcroy, Yolanda C. Padilla, Rocío Calvo, Jeremy T. Goldbach, Martell L. Teasley, Hortensia Amaro, Marilyn Armour, Manuel Cano, Sandra E. Crewe, Westy Egmont, Victor J. Figuero, Rowena Fong, Cynthia G. S. Franklin, Ruby M. Gourdine, John L. Jackson Jr., Mit Joyner, Michael S. Kelly, James E. Lubben, Larry Ortiz, Macheo Payne, Robert Rosales, William A. Vega, Michael D. Walter, Mary C. Waters

Center for Social Development Research

This brief was created forSocial Innovation for America’s Renewal, a policy conference organized by the Center for Social Development in collaboration with the American Academy of Social Work & Social Welfare, which is leading theGrand Challenges for Social Work initiative to champion social progress. The conference site includes links to speeches, presentations, and a full list of the policy briefs.

Racial Disparities In Student Debt: Evidence From The Refund To Savings Initiative, Samuel H. Taylor, Dana C. Perantie, Nava Kantor, Michal Grinstein-Weiss, Shenyang Guo, Ramesh Raghavan

Center for Social Development Research

This brief provides evidence that low- and moderate-income (LMI) Black households accumulate significantly more debt in pursuit of a higher education than do LMI White students, even after using rigorous methods to account for race- and debt-related confounders. Using data from the Refund to Savings experiment, the authors find that LMI Black households accrued $7,721 more in student loan debt than their White counterparts did. This finding is crucial in light of the financial vulnerability of this population both before and after college. That vulnerability potentially contributes to diminished returns and exacerbates racial disparities in educational outcomes and wealth accumulation. …

Smart Decarceration: Guiding Concepts For An Era Of Criminal Justice Transformation, Matthew W. Epperson, Carrie Pettus-Davis

Center for Social Development Research

The era of mass incarceration, which made the United States the world’s leading jailer, appears to be coming to an end. What is likely to follow is an era of decarceration, aimed at reducing the incarcerated population. In this working paper, we discuss the problems associated with mass incarceration and the current climate that is likely to make decarceration a reality. We discuss the importance of developing a “smart decarceration” approach—one that is effective, sustainable, and socially just. We then articulate interrelated goals for the era of decarceration, and offer guiding concepts that will help to meet these goals through …

Beyond Ferguson: Empowering Low-Income People To Build The Future Of Their Communities, Dorothy Stoneman

Center for Social Development Research

Beyond Ferguson: Empowering Low-Income People to Build the Future of Their Communities

Go To The Hospital Or Stay At Home? A Qualitative Study Of Expected Hospital Decision Making Among Older African Americans With Advanced Heart Failure, Faith Pratt Hopp, Christina Marsack, Jessica Camp, Shirley Ann Thomas

Social Work Faculty Publications

To address the need for more information concerning hospital decision making, we conducted in-depth interviews among African Americans with heart failure and their family caregivers (n=11 dyads). Using a case scenario, we asked participants about their anticipated hospitalization decisions. Most patients indicated that they would seek care to avoid further deterioration or death from their worsening condition. Many family caregivers anticipated having an active influence on hospitalization decisions. Findings suggest that social workers should encourage the development of adequate home-based services, recognize diverse communication styles, and use this information to facilitate medical decision making by these patients and …

Project Ngage: Network Supported Hiv Care Engagement For Younger Black Men Who Have Sex With Men And Transgender Persons, Dexter R. Voisin

Faculty Scholarship

Background: Young Black men who have sex with men and transgender persons (YBMSMT) aged 13-29 carry the nation's highest burden of new HIV infections. Studies indicate that YBMSMT have poor retention in care, which is associated with reduced medication adherence and increased virologic failure. Objective: Project nGage is a randomized controlled (RCT) trial evaluating the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a brief, dyadic intervention designed to promote adherence to HIV primary care in safety-net clinics. Network visualization is used to identify and engage a support confidant (SC) from participants' social networks. A social work interventionist then meets with the SC …

The Effectiveness Of A Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program That Offer Special Benefits For Pregnant And Parenting Teens: A Qualitative Study, Marsha Brown

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Teen pregnancy continues to be a problem for families, educators, health care professionals, and the government. Teenagers are not afforded the opportunity to learn or receive reinforcement on God's laws on abstaining from premarital sex because religious education is not allowed in the public school system. This increase has led to the creation of the Teenage Parenting Center (TAPP), located in southwest Georgia. TAPP is one of 64 schools in a school district that offers special benefits for pregnant and parenting teens. This qualitative case study used a phenomenological approach to explore the experience of eight former attendees of the …

Exposure To Verbal Parental Aggression And Sexual Activity Among Low Income African American Youth, Dexter R. Voisin

Faculty Scholarship

The study examined whether witnessing verbal parental aggression (VPA) was related to sexual activity among mostly low income African American youth, and whether psychological symptoms mediated this relationship. Five hundred and sixty-three African American high school adolescents (ages 13-19) completed self-administered questionnaires, which assessed demographics, psychological problems (e.g., depression, anxiety, aggression and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms), witnessing VPA, and sexual activity. Participants who witnessed high versus no VPA were 2 times more likely to report sexual activity. This relationship was mediated by aggression for males and females, and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms for females only. Youth service providers should be …

Parenting Stress Among White, Black, American Indian, And Hispanic Mothers, Yunju Nam, Nora Wikoff, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

Parenting stress can have long-term effects on parents and children, but little is known about racial and ethnic differences in parenting stress. Using baseline survey data from a probability sample in the SEED for Oklahoma Kids experiment (N = 2,26), we examine parenting stress among White, Black, American Indian, and Hispanic mothers. This study employs OLS regressions and Blinder-Oaxaca decompositions. Parenting stress scores among Whites and American Indians were on average significantly lower than among Blacks and Hispanics. Regressions indicate that across all four groups, parenting stress is positively associated with maternal depression and negatively associated with social supports. Decomposition …

Social Ecological Constraints To Park Use In Communities With Quality Access, J. Aaron Hipp, Ravikumar Chockalingam, Deepti Adlakha

Center for Social Development Research

Evidence correlates physical activity, psychological restoration, and social health to proximity to parks and sites of recreation. The purpose of this study was to identify perceived constraints to park use in low-income communities facing significant health disparities, with access to underutilized parks. We used a series of focus groups with families, teens, and older adults in neighborhoods with similar demographic distribution and access to parks over 125 acres in size. Constraints to park use varied across age groups as well as across social ecological levels, with perceived constraints to individuals, user groups, communities, and society. Policies and interventions aimed at …

Childhood Perceptions Of Family, Social Support, Parental Alcoholism And Later Alcohol Use Among African American College Students, J. Camille Hall

Social Work Publications and Other Works

This study investigated differences in alcohol use, family of origin, and social support between a sample of adult children of alcoholics (ACOAs, 25 males and 25 females) and a sample of adult children of non-alcoholics (non-ACOAs, 25 males and 25 females). Participants completed a battery of tests: a demographic questionnaire, the Children of Alcoholics Screening Test, the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test, the Family of Origin Scale, and the Dimension of Social Support Scale. Analysis of variance revealed that the two groups differed on alcohol consumption and family of origin, with ACOAs reporting significantly less alcohol use, and non-ACOAs reporting healthier …

Assets And Liabilities, Race/Ethnicity, And Children's College Education, Min Zhan, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

Assets and Liabilities, Race/Ethnicity, and Children's College Education

Assets And Liabilities, Race/Ethnicity, And Children's College Education, Min Zhan, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

This study examines the extent to which household assets and liabilities are related to disparities in children’s college attendance and college graduation among White, Black, and Hispanic families. Results indicate that, after household assets are considered, a substantial portion of the Black-White gap in college attendance and college graduation disappears, and a small portion of the Hispanic-White gap in college graduation also disappears. Separate analyses of children from each racial/ethnic group further indicate that family income and financial assets are related to White children’s college attendance and graduation, but nonfinancial assets and unsecured debt are associated with college attendance and …

The Human Capital Agenda: Asset Holding And Educational Attainment Among African-American Youth, William Elliott, Kevin Kim, Hyunzee Jung, Min Zhan

Center for Social Development Research

This study extends previous analyses in several ways. First, in addition to parental wealth, the relationship between children’s wealth and math and reading scores are examined. Second, we examine different mediating pathways that wealth may affect children’s math and reading scores in a single path analysis model. The advantage of path analysis over traditional regression analyses, which are typically used in this area, is that researchers can get a glimpse of relationships among variables. While the focus of regression analysis is on the associations of predictors with outcome variables, path analysis provides a larger picture of the overall structure of …

Treating Suicidality In African American Adolescents With Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Curtis E. Bryant, Jeanette Harder

Social Work Faculty Publications

Methods for preventing adolescent suicide are surveyed, and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is explored as a method for serving suicidal African American adolescents. Strengths, limitations, and compatibility of CBT with social work values are examined. Although CBT shows much promise in helping suicidal African American adolescents, research on the efficacy and effectiveness of CBT with this population is lacking. Suicide risk and protective factors and social inequities are evaluated as they relate to African American adolescents generally. In addition to relieving suicidal symptoms, CBT potentially could facilitate social liberation for this population.

Friends, Family, And Neighborhood: Understanding Academic Outcomes Of African American Youth, Trina Williams, Larry Davis, Julie Miller-Cribbs, Jeanne Saunders, James Herbert Williams

Center for Social Development Research

Friends, Family, and Neighborhood: Understanding Academic Outcomes of African American Youth

Gender Differences In Self-Perceptions And Academic Outcomes: A Study Of African American High School Students, Jeanne Saunders, Larry Davis, Trina Williams, Julie Miller Cribbs

Center for Social Development Research

There is increasing divergence in the academic outcomes of African American males and females. By most accounts, males are falling behind their female peers educationally as African American females are graduating from high schools at higher rates and are going on to college and graduate school in greater numbers. Some have suggested that school completion and performance is associated with how students feel about themselves. The purpose of this study was to explore gender differences in the relationship between self-perceptions and two academic outcomes among a sample of 243 African American high school sophomores. The results suggest that, overall; females …

Depression And Poverty Among African-American Women At Risk For Type 2 Diabetes, Mary De Groot, Wendy Auslander, James Herbert Williams, Michael Sherraden, Debra Haire-Joshu

Center for Social Development Research

Poverty is associated with negative health outcomes, including depression. Little is known about the specific elements of poverty that contribute to depression, particularly among African- American women at risk for type 2 diabetes. This study examined the relationships of economic and social resources to depression among African-American women at high risk for the development of type 2 diabetes (N=181) using the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory as a conceptual framework. Women were assessed at three time points in conjunction with a dietary change intervention. At baseline, 40% of women reported clinically significant depression and 43.3% were below the poverty line. …

Listening To African-American Students: An Exploratory Analysis Of Factors That Foster Academic Success, Julie Miller-Cribbs, Larry Davis, Stephanie Cronen, Sharon Johnson

Center for Social Development Research

This exploratory study assessed African-American freshman and sophomore students’ decisions to remain in school and their opinions regarding specific dropout prevention programs. Results indicated that students believed that school completion would prepare them for the future. the opinion of family members was consistently ranked as most important in supporting students' decisions to remain in school, and the primary barriers to completing school were related to family issues, academic problems and personal issues. Overall, students were most interested in intervention programs having to do with preparation for their futures—jobs and goals. The importance of tailoring education to meet the needs of …

Factors Influencing African American Youths' Decisions To Stay In School, Larry E. Davis, Sharon Johnson, Julie Miller-Cribbs, Stephen Cronen, Leslie Scheuler-Whitaker

Center for Social Development Research

Little attention has been given to the non-problematic development and positive life decisions of African American youth. This paper reports findings of 231 African American students. The goal of the study was to assess factors which contribute to their academic grade point averages and intentions to stay in school. The conceptual model employed in this study was the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) which contends that intentions to carryout a behavior is a function of Attitude towards the behavior, Social Normative support for undertaking the behavior, and the Perceived Control of being able to carry out the behavior. In addition …