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Racial Inequality And The Implementation Of Emergency Management Laws In Economically Distressed Urban Areas, Shawna J. Lee, Amy Krings, Sara Rose, Krista Dover, Jessica Ayoub, Fatima Salman

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

This study examines the use of emergency management laws as a policy response to fiscal emergencies in urban areas. Focusing on one Midwestern Rust Belt state, we use a mixed methods approach – integrating chronology of legislative history, analysis of Census data, and an ethnographic case study – to examine the dynamics of emer- gency management laws from a social justice perspective. Analysis of Census data showed that emergency man- agement policies disproportionately affected African Americans and poor families. Analysis indicated that in one state, 51% of African American residents and 16.6% of Hispanic or Latinos residents had lived in …

On Becoming An Ecologically Conscious Social Worker: Exploring Professional Identities That Include A Response To The Environmental Crisis, Meredith C. F. Powers

Theses and Dissertations

Mounting scientific evidence about the global environmental crisis has created an urgent call to action for all people to promote sustainable environmental practices that enhance the well-being of humans and the ecological systems in which they live. Despite the increasing body of social work literature or the recent social work leadership’s emphasis on this call to action, the social work profession as a whole has been slow to embrace an “expanded professional identity” that includes a response to the environmental crisis. Further insight is needed from individual social workers who have expanded professional identities. Knowledge is needed from their specific …

Promoting Socially Just Healthcare Systems: Social Work’S Contribution To Patient Navigation, Gayle Mallinger, Patricia Desrosiers

Social Work Faculty Publications

Presentation regarding the purpose of patient navigation.

Toxic Stress : Exploring Mental Health Narratives Of Environmental Justice In Richmond, California, Elizabeth Gonzalez

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

The purpose of this exploratory study was to gather narratives of residents and/or community members who perceive the presence of the Richmond Chevron Oil Refinery in their community as a psychological stressor. The study used semi-structured interviews with eight community organizers and activists to gather qualitative data providing personal accounts of the possible psychological impact of living near a toxic facility with great political power in the city. The common trend among the narratives was the tendency of the participants to focus on a macro interpretation of how mental health is affected by a corporate giant. A collective sense of …

Social Justice And Worker Cooperatives, Gurveer Shaan Dhillon

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Social Justice (SJ) is an organizing principle of contemporary community psychology (CP); however, the concept and understanding of social justice in community psychology is undertheorized and narrow. Specifically, the concept of distributive justice, which has been a popular notion of social justice in community psychology discourse, does not translate well into transformative action. In order to address this issue, the research uses a qualitative approach to explore the understanding of social justice from the perspectives of worker-members of 5 worker cooperatives in Ontario, with the aim to contribute to an understanding of SJ that has transformative implications. A worker cooperative …

From The Editor, Peggy Pittman-Munke Ph.D.

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Journal of Contemporary Rural Social Work

Volume 7, Number 2

2015

From the Editor: Peggy Pittman-Munke, Murray State University

Contemporary Rural Social Work - Fall 2015 (Volume 7, Number 2)

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Contemporary Rural Social Work - 2015 (Volume 7, Number 2)

Full issue

Sustainable Social Work: An Environmental Justice Framework For Social Work Education, Samantha Teixeira, Amy Krings

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

Environmental degradation is not experienced by all populations equally; hazardous and toxic waste sites, resource contamination (e.g., exposure to pesticides), air pollution, and numerous other forms of environmental degradation disproportionately affect low income and minority communities. The communities most affected by environmental injustices are often the same communities where social workers are entrenched in service provision at the individual, family, and community level. In this article, we use a global social work paradigm to describe practical ways in which environmental justice content can be infused in the training and education of social workers across contexts in order to prepare professionals …

From The Editor, Peggy Pittman-Munke Ph.D.

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Journal of Contemporary Rural Social Work

Volume 7, Number 1: Special Issue

2015

From the Editor-in-Chief: Peggy Pittman-Munke, Murray State University

Social Action Meets Social Media: Environmental Justice In West Virginia, Debra Hunt Young, Samantha Teixeira, Helen Hartnett

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

This article presents a case study of a community organizing effort known as Citizens Actively Protecting the Environment (CAPE). Led by rural West Virginians in response to the Elk River chemical spill of 2013, this environmental justice movement was novel in that it harnessed social media, specifically Facebook, to catalyze advocacy and change efforts in a rural area. The literature on environmental health disparities and environmental justice in rural communities is reviewed. Then authors describe how resident-led organizing in rural areas was effective in promoting environmental justice. Details of the CAPE project are presented, as well as ways social media …

Social And Environmental Justice And The Water-Energy Nexus: A Quest In Progress For Rural People, Karen V. Harper-Dorton Ph.D., Stacia J. Harper

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Access to affordable and reliable clean water and energy is necessary for economic development, health, and well-being of all people worldwide. Unavailable, unaffordable, or unreliable water and energy resources represent social and environmental injustices that disproportionately burden poor people, especially those in rural areas. Furthermore, there is an inextricable link between water and energy: clean water requires power for delivery and sanitation, and power production requires large amounts of water. This water-energy nexus connects two vital resources for humanity with more attention to economic concerns than to human or environmental issues. This paper addresses social and environmental justice issues that …

Ecology And Social Justice: A Course Designed For Environmental Social Work In Rural Spaces, Arielle Dylan

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

This article describes a course developed by the author that responds to the stated social justice aims of the social work profession. If social workers are to advocate successfully for environments conducive to the general welfare of all people, promote social justice, equitable distribution of resources, and just environmental management, environmental social work scholarship needs to move beyond theorizing and suggestions itemizing broad responses, and provide instead illustrative examples of interventions and alternative practices. The trend in very recent years of environmental social work scholarship has done just this. Education, in particular in the classroom setting, provides an opportunity to …

The Slow Violence Of Climate Change In Poor Rural Kenyan Communities: “Water Is Life. Water Is Everything.”, Jennifer L. Willett

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Climate change is the most pressing global environmental problem and the most unyielding worldwide environmental injustice of our time. Although some social workers have begun to address climate change, this literature is centered on its generalized impact, rather than its specific effects on vulnerable populations. As a concept, slow violence offers a frame to understand the slow occurring effects of climate change on the global poor. This study used an ethnographic approach to examine the effects of climate change on two poor rural Kenyan communities. Findings discussed include the consequences of droughts, the connection between droughts and deforestation, failed governmental …

Rural Community Transition And Resilience: What Now For Social Work?, Jonathan Scherch

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Rural communities, like all communities, face myriad social, economic and ecological challenges as they endeavor to resolve precarious dependencies on critical, energy-intensive and supply-chain extensive resource systems. With increasing impacts of climate change and related incidents of human and more-than-human displacements, including losses of life and habitat, rural communities have become beset with frequent, prolonged and persistent recovery and coping obligations. The progressive resolution of injustices will need to occur in the face of serious ecological stressors. Designing for and increasingly demonstrating social work practices that prioritize the multi-modal skills of sustainable living may well be the most effective means …

Book Review: Transforming Places: Lessons From Appalachia, Katherine Perone

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Book Review: Transforming Places: Lessons from Appalachia Stephen L. Fisher & Barbara Ellen Smith 2012 Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press 322 pages Softcover: $ 27.00 Kindle: $14.00 ISBN-13: 0252078381 ISBN-13: 978-0-252-07838-5

Contemporary Rural Social Work - 2015 (Volume 7, Number 1)

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Contemporary Rural Social Work - 2015 (Volume 7, Number 1: Special Issue)

Full issue

From The Guest Editor, Pamela Casey Twiss Msw, Ph.D.

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Journal of Contemporary Rural Social Work

Volume 7, Number 1: Special Issue

2015

From the Guest Editor: Pamela Casey Twiss

Ending Poverty In Mongolia: From Socialism To Social Development, Richard J. Smith

Social Work Faculty Publications

While recent literature on social welfare has included Asian countries, less is known about low-income and former socialist countries in Central Asia. This article combines a documentary-historical method with a value-critical approach to analyze Mongolia’s social policy response to poverty. Mongolia is unique in Asia because it transformed from nomadic pastoralism to socialism without a phase of capitalist industrial development. The case study found that Mongolia lost social welfare when it transitioned from socialism, a statist model, to market liberalism and multiparty democracy. In the 21st century, Mongolia has been aspiring to promote social development by redirecting mining revenues to …

Climate Change: Threats To Social Welfare And Social Justice Requiring Social Work Intervention, Lauren Caroline Achstatter

21st Century Social Justice

The article looks at climate change though a social development framework, with emphasis on social justice and social welfare. It evaluates how market-based capitalism continues to contribute to the problem while ignoring the warnings from the scientific community. The article goes on to report that despite the devastation of climate change, concerns – mainly financial in nature - continue to hinder progress towards reform. The article then argues that given the evidence, climate change qualifies as a topic of interest for social workers. The article goes on to advocate for social work involvement highlighting some suggested areas for action.

Diy Urbanism As An Environmental Justice Strategy: The Case Study Of Time's Up! 1987-2012, Benjamin C. Shepard

Publications and Research

Time's Up! is a New York environmental group which promotes nonpolluting transportation and sustainable solutions to an urban problems. Over the last twenty-five years, the group has taken a do-it-yourself approach to an environmental activism, bridging neighborhood, global justice, and occupy movements. With roots in the squatter movement in New York, Time's Up! has built its own distinct brand of DIY urbanism to fight for community gardens, support group bike rides, and create sustainable approaches to an urban living. While the group makes use of a wide range of approaches to reclaim public space, direct action is its guiding principle. …

Strategies Employed By Inner-City Activists To Reduce Alcohol-Related Problems And Advance Social Justice, Laurie Drabble, Denise Herd

Faculty Publications

This study explored strategies employed by activists engaged in efforts to change policies and laws related to selling and promoting alcoholic beverages based on in-depth interviews with 184 social activists in seven U.S. major cities. Nine strategies aimed at improving local conditions and influencing policy were described by activists across regional contexts. Grassroots mobilization was central to all other strategies, which included the creation or enforcement of laws, meeting with elected officials, media advocacy, working with police/law enforcement, education and training, direct action, changing community norms, and negotiating with store owners.

The African American Community In Multnomah County: An Unsettling Profile, Lisa K. Bates, Ann Curry-Stevens, Coalition Of Communities Of Color

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This report covers topics of importance for the African-American community, highlighting critical areas of disparity and disproportionate representation. The areas of analysis include: economic opportunity, housing and neighborhoods, education, health, child welfare, the criminal justice system, and civic engagement. In each area, we provide history and context, followed by data analysis that demonstrates the extent of racial disparity.

Taken together, the data on inequities show a community facing real and persistent challenges. These data point to a need for fundamental change and help to focus attention on some key drivers of that change. The depth and breadth of disparities profiled …

Indicator Analysis For Unpacking Poverty In New York City, Jochen Albrecht, Mimi Abramovitz

Publications and Research

This article presents work that is part of a larger and ongoing research agenda exploring the persistence of health and social problems in some parts of New York City. To this end, the authors have developed a GIS framework that translates a highly diverse set of variables into neighborhood indicators that can help local residents as well as decision makers to understand the relationship between “place” and individual behavior. Using the example of two new indices, Community Loss and Neighborhood Risks, the readers will learn how data can be transformed to emphasize the communal nature of phenomena that is typically …

Environmental Beliefs And Concern About Animal Welfare: Exploring The Connections, Catherine A. Faver

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

An online survey examined environmental beliefs and concern about animal welfare among 105 social work students in the U.S.- Mexico border region. Environmental beliefs were measured using items from the revised New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) Scale (Dunlap, Van Liere, Mertig, & Jones, 2000). Higher concern about animal welfare was significantly related to three dimensions of the revised NEP Scale: (1) belief in the fragility of nature's balance, (2) belief in the possibility ofan ecological crisis, and (3) rejection of the notion that humans have a right to dominate nature (anti-anthropocentrism). The findings suggest that by making explicit connections between the …

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

Brown School Faculty Publications

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, but with proximate access to underutilized parks. The authors used a series of focus groups with families, teens, and older adults in neighborhoods with similar demographic distribution and 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 …

Ecocity Mapping Using Gis: Introducing A Planning Method For Assessing And Improving Neighborhood Vitality, Richard J. Smith, Kristin Miller

Social Work Faculty Publications

Background: Assessing neighborhood vitality is important to understand how to improve quality of life and health outcomes. The ecocity model recognizes that cities are part of natural systems and favors walkable neighborhoods. This article introduces ecocity mapping, an innovative planning method, to the public health literature on community engagement by describing a pilot project with a new affordable housing development in Oakland, California between 2007 and 2009. While ecocity mapping began as a paper technology, advances in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) moved it forward.

Objectives: This article describes how Ecocity Builders used GIS to conduct ecocity mapping to: …

'We Are Radical': The Right To The City Alliance And The Future Of Community Organizing, Robert Fisher, Yuseph Katiya, Christopher Reid, Eric Shragge

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper seeks to situate current efforts of The Right to the City Alliance and selected member groups in a longitudinal and cross-sectional qualitative study of the limits and potential of contemporary organizing. For three decades politicians, policy makers, advocates, academics, and even activists have promoted community-based efforts as the primary vehicle for contemporary social change. Local organizing has been seen as the best site and strategy for initiatives as diverse as community economic development, public school reform, social service delivery, and challenging the powers that be. In almost all cases these efforts have been constrained and moderated by a …

Organizing For Environmental Justice: From Bridges To Taro Patches, Amy Krings, Michael S. Spencer, Kelcie Jimenez

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

No abstract provided.

Rural Communities: How Do Individuals Perceive Change When Industry Enters The Area?, Katherine Danielle Ferrari

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As the landscape of the United States changes and world resources face depletion, shale gas development has become a major social justice issue. Social workers may be called upon to help support communities undergoing change from industry as well as the environmental and social justice concerns that are arising in areas with rich natural resource supplies.

This research examines how a rural population perceives change when industry enters an area. It explores community change and social justice concerns that are occurring with shale gas development in order to help determine implications for social work practice.

Using a phenomenological approach, this …

The Criminalization Of Immigration: Value Conflicts For The Social Work Profession, Rich Furman, Alissa R. Ackerman, Melody Loya, Susanna Jones, Nalini Negi

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article examines the impact of the criminalization of immigration on non-documented immigrants and the profession of social work. To meet its aims, the article explores the new realities for undocumented immigrants within the context of globalization. It then assesses the criminal justice and homeland security responses to undocumented immigrants, also referred to as the criminalization of immigration. It subsequently explores the ethical dilemmas and value discrepancies for social workers that are implicated in some of these responses. Finally, it presents implications for social workers and the social work profession.