Digital Commons Network^™

End-Stage Renal Disease Patients' Experience Of Anticipatory Grief, Felicia Nicole Speed

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although prior researchers have suggested that end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients experience depression that impacts their adherence to treatment and quality of life, there is a lack of understanding of how ESRD patients experience anticipatory grief related to their mortality and loss. This lack of knowledge has made it challenging for social workers to address treatment adherence and palliative care issues during the care planning process. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore perceptions of loss and grief of ESRD patients who were undergoing hemodialysis treatment. The conceptual framework was anticipatory grief, specifically how patients perceive their own …

Using Chess As An Intervention To Improve Executive Functioning Among Youth, Anandita Oberoi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Youth represent a vulnerable segment of the population and may have underdeveloped levels of executive functioning (EF), which is important in both daily life and is shown to have far-reaching effects. This research study aimed to decipher if lessons in the game of chess could be used as an efficacious intervention for accelerating EF development in youth. The three research questions focused on determining whether there was a difference in the chosen indices of EF before and after a 14-session chess intervention. The theoretical framework used for this study was Piaget’s cognitive development theory. This quantitative, single group pretest–posttest design …

Investigating The Needs Of Homeless Individuals Living In Transitional Housing, Tonya Hambrick-Mcclain

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Homeless individuals are a disadvantaged and vulnerable population. Some of the issues contributing to homelessness are mental illness, medical problems, substance abuse, domestic violence, and lack of education and affordable housing. Homelessness continues to be a major social issue in the United States, and it profoundly affects individuals ages 25–35 years old. There is limited research identifying the needs of homeless individuals between the ages of 25 and 35 who live in transitional housing in the Chicago area. The purpose of this generic qualitative research study was to explore how homeless individuals ages 25-35 years old describe their lived experiences …

Integrating Tf-Cbt And Play Therapy: Promoting Resilience In Child Sexual Assault Survivors, Shayla Polk

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Licensed social workers and counselors provide services to children who experience child sexual assault (CSA), which disrupt their normal childhood developmental processes. Trauma outcomes include symptoms related to somatization, inability to cope, feelings of helplessness, decreased self-esteem, difficulty expressing proper emotions, anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) combined with play therapy can be helpful for CSA survivors. Still, it is not yet fully understood how therapists perceive the combined approach or how it fosters resiliency in children who experience sexual assault. The purpose of this action research study was (a) to explore the experiences and perspectives …

Parole Officers’ Perspective On The Needs Of Indigenous Offenders On Conditional Release, Ritesh Dalip Narayan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Indigenous offenders are overrepresented in all aspects of the Canadian criminal justice system, including corrections. Indigenous offenders are overrepresented in the prison population and are least likely to be granted an early release from prison. Indigenous offenders also disproportionately breach their conditional release orders and consequently spend more time incarcerated than non-Indigenous offenders. To understand the reasons behind the breaches, need-based theoretical lenses were used to analyze data. Sixteen parole officers were interviewed using a narrative design where participants shared their accounts on supervising Indigenous offenders while highlighting the needs which they felt were not being met by their Indigenous …

An Exploration Of African American Women’S Clinical Experience With European American Clinicians, Tonia L. Nixon

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractAfrican American (AA) women experience decreased rates of retention and increased rates of mental health conditions. The purpose of this qualitative transcendental phenomenological study was to explore lived experiences of AA women who received therapeutic services from European American (EA) clinicians. The strong Black woman (SBW) schema served as a conceptual framework for this study. The research question was to examine how the endorsement of the SBW schema affect AA women’s experiences of the therapeutic alliance during clinical treatment with EA clinicians. Data collection was accomplished through semi structured interviews conducted through Zoom from six participants in Atlanta, GA. Participant …

Exploring The Religious Motives Of The Boko Haram Terrorism In Nigeria, Andrew Abah

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Boko Haram (BH) terrorism in Nigeria has persisted for over a decade, and the attacks continue to get more sophisticated, deadly, and well-coordinated with each passing year. Given the sect’s focus on religious institutions, especially churches and mosques considered not to be practicing the kind of Islam the BH expresses, the purpose of this dissertation was to explore the religious motivation that drives their terrorist activities. The primary research question that guided this qualitative study on the religious motivations, reconciliation of activities and beliefs, and perspectives regarding minimizing BH terrorism in Nigeria. The study’s theoretical framework was the frustration-aggression theory …

“No Queremos Quedar Mal”: A Qualitative Analysis Of A Boundary Setting Training Among Latina Community Health Workers., Luis R. Alvarez-Hernandez, J. Maria Bermudez, Pamela Orpinas, Rebecca Matthew, Alejandra Calva, Carolina Darbis

School of Social Work Faculty Publications

Community health workers (CHWs)—or promotoras de salud in Spanish—have successfully addressed the health needs of Latinx and immigrant populations. However, for promotoras, setting boundaries is particularly difficult given challenges like residing in the same communities as their participants. The purpose of this study was to describe the development and impact of a boundary setting training to support the emotional well-being of immigrant promotoras. The training (four 1-hr sessions) was informed by social cognitive theory and a Chicana feminist framework. The promotoras who participated in the training helped create Lazos Hispanos, a community-based participatory research (CBPR) study and CHW …

The Influence Of Colorism On The Hair Experiences Of African American Female Adolescents, Lakindra Mitchell Dove

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article addresses the prevalence of colorism among the hair care narratives of African American female adolescents. Eleven interviews were conducted to explore the connection between hair and sense of self and self-esteem. During data collection and analysis, the theme surrounding colorism emerged, as many participants discussed its influence on hair, recalling traumatic hair and colorist experiences. This article focuses on the analysis of these narratives using the colorist-historical trauma framework. Three themes emerged: (1) colorist experiences; (2) perceptions of good hair; and (3) the influence of White beauty standards. These themes reflect how participants conceptualized the implications of colorism …

Social Determinants Of Health And Parenting Self-Efficacy Among Mothers Of Preterm Infants, Susanne Klawetter, Blair W. Weikel, Kristi L. Roybal, Nazan Cetin, Mathew C, Uretsky, Stephanie L. Bourque, Anne Hall, Sunah S. Hwang, Madalynn Neu, Mauricio A. Palau, Multiple Additional Authors

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objective: To explore the relationships between social and environmental factors and parenting self-efficacy (PSE) among mothers of preterm infants hospitalized in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) using a social determinants of health (SDoH) framework. Method: We analyzed data from a prospective cohort study that included 187 mother-infant dyads admitted to four NICUs in the Mountain West region between June 2017 and December 2019. We used multivariable linear regression models to assess the independent associations between maternal and infant characteristics and PSE. Results: Our final multiple linear regression model predicting the efficacy score including maternal race/ethnicity, age, insurance, employment status before …

Ready? Set? Go?: Examining Organizational Readiness For Change In A Quality Improvement Intervention For Youth Mentoring Programs, Renee Spencer, Alison L. Drew, Carla Herrera, Bowen Mcbeath, Thomas E. Keller

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

The number of youth mentoring programs has risen significantly in recent decades. This trend, coupled with evidence that programs employing a greater number of empirically supported practices achieve more positive effects for youth participants, has prompted increasing interest in how to promote more widespread use of evidence-based practice standards in mentoring programs. In an effort to describe and better understand efforts to implement recommended standards, we studied a multi-level initiative sponsored by a national advocacy organization in which its state-level Affiliates guided local mentoring programs through a structured quality improvement process. Specifically, we examined organizational readiness for change among mentoring …

Attuning To Need: Reconceptualizing “Help” In Poor Rural Areas, Jennifer M. Frank, Laura Brierton Granruth, Brittany Leffler, Rachel Preibisch, Dawn Watson, Heather Girvin, Mary Glazier

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Social isolation is closely linked to overall health and well-being and is a serious concern for those in rural areas. Our research seeks insights into the needs experienced in poor rural areas by utilizing letter writing between students and community agency participants as a research methodology. In the letters, we observed that community participants relied upon friend and family style relationships and even viewed their agency relationships as such. This suggests that transforming "professional helping relationships" into alliances that are less impersonal might be in order. Such relationships and connections seemed conducive to the development of empowering self-efficacy. This finding …

Biopolitics' New Iteration: Gay Men, Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis And The Pharmaco-Pornographic Imagination, Rory David Crath, J. Cristian Rangel, Adam Gaubinger

School for Social Work: Faculty Publications

This article builds upon Paul Preciado’s conceptualisation of pharmaco-pornographic power to understand the ongoing affects and effects of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) on queer men’s sexual socialities and subjectivities. Drawing from a new-materialist epistemology, we analyze data from a sexual health pilot study in NYC to trace the techno-sexual health assemblages forming in queer life worlds. Our analysis suggests that these assemblages, entangling PrEP and other pharmacological substances, pornographic imaginaries together with mediatic technologies and public health rationalties, are creating paradoxical desires and practices of intimacy that are both normative and exceed rational health-actor logics and normative understandings of risk. These …

A Promising Approach In Home Visiting To Support Families Affected By Maternal Substance Use., Donna M. O'Malley, Danielle F. Chiang, Emily Siedlik, Katharine Ragon, Marcia Dutcher, Oneta Templeton

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

INTRODUCTION: Many factors influence women's use of alcohol and other drugs while pregnant and postpartum. Substance use impacts the maternal-child relationship during the critical neonatal period. The first days and months of human development lay the foundation for health and well-being across the lifespan, making this period an important window of opportunity to interrupt the transmission of trauma and stress to the next generation. Pregnant and postpartum women with a history of substance use require specialized support services.

METHODS: The Team for Infants Exposed to Substance abuse (TIES) Program provides a holistic, multi-disciplinary, community-based model to address the complex needs …

Distress And Resilience In Resettled Refugees Of War: Implications For Screening, Michael Hollifield, Eric C. Toolson, Sasha Verbillis-Kolp, Beth Farmer, Junko Yamazaki, Tsegaba Woldehaimanot, Annette Holland

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

There is little work published about predictors of specific trajectory types of distress in refugees of war during early resettlement in a host country. Data about distress (Refugee Health Screener—15 (RHS-15)) and possible predictors of distress were collected at the domestic medical examination (T1) within 90 days of arrival and the civil surgeon examination (T2) 11–16 months after T1 for refugee groups from three countries (COU). Descriptive, correlative, analyses of variance, and regression techniques were used to determine trajectory type and their predictors. A higher percentage (7.3%) were distressed at T2 than at T1. By group, the Bhutanese became more …

An Encore In Social Work? How Our Schools Can Become More Age Inclusive, Cal J. Halvorsen, Erin Emmanuel

Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging

At a time when the number of younger students entering our colleges and universities is stagnant and the number of older people in our society continues to grow by the millions, schools of social work have an opportunity to broaden their student base by intentionally including people past midlife. This commentary argues that we must recruit and retain “encore students”—defined as those aged 35 and older—in our social work programs for schools, students, the profession, and society. It covers key demographic changes in the U.S. and their relation to social work programs, the importance of multigenerational classrooms, interest in encore …

Impact Of Social Networking Sites On School-Going Adolescent Boys In Kashmir, India, Aadil Bashir, Sarafaraz Ahmed, Unjum Bashir, Sumeer Gul, Fayaz Ahmad Loan

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The adolescent age group is one of the most vulnerable periods of life span. It is the period that develops identity and integrity among individuals. The environmental influx to this group includes the SNS’s as one of the major components, having a direct impact on the transition of adolescents to adults. It is in this backdrop, the need is to critically study the impact of SNS’s on adolescent’s life and identifying the key consequences that are emerging out of either using or misusing of same. Ranging from initial exposure of SNS’s to disturbed social life a detailed assessment has been …

Faith-Inspired Praxis Of Love, Monica Chi

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The motivations of people of faith in the helping field are often misunderstood. In social work, while there has been a growing interest in making space for integrating the clients’ spirituality and practice (Canda & Furman, 2010; Hodge, 2013), the role of the practitioners’ faith in practice has not received much attention. To this effect, there is a lack of conceptual framework that describes their aspirations in helping and caring and what such practice looks like in everyday reality.

This dissertation presents a two-part study each culminating in two different developments. First, in light of a missing conceptual framework, I …

“Child Witches”: Sexual Exploitation And Abuse Of Homeless Girls In South-Southern Nigeria, Chima Agazue

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Sexual exploitation and abuse of girls is one of the endemic social problems in Nigeria. Although this problem has attracted much research attention in recent times, some newly emerged factors contributing to the problem have been mostly ignored. This study explored how the abandonment of children following their stigmatization as witches contributes to sexual exploitation and abuse of the girls in the Akwa Ibom and Cross River states of Nigeria. The study was based on the qualitative research paradigm. Data was collected via semi-structured interviews of three senior staff members of the Child’s Rights and Rehabilitation Network (CRARN)—a children’s charity …

The Lived Experience Of Psychological Occupational Stress In Early Childhood Teacher Leaders, Brooke Fletcher, Debora Basler Wisneski

Journal of Curriculum, Teaching, Learning and Leadership in Education

The existence of occupational and specifically psychological occupational stress of early childhood education (ECE) professionals is well established. However, little qualitative research has been published describing the lived experience of psychological occupational stress in this setting. The aim of this study was to provide a deeper understanding of ECE professionals’ stress to better support their occupational health. This was accomplished through a secondary phenomenological analysis of interviews with ECE teachers (n=4) collected by the primary author for a larger study of professional development in ECE leadership. The researchers found that the essential description of psychological occupational stress for these ECE …

Is There A Difference Between Democrat And Republican States In The Percentage Of Male High School Students Who Physically Fight On Campus?, Anthony Brown, Wayne L. Davis

Lincoln Memorial University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

School violence is a common occurrence in American high schools. Victims of school violence are more likely than others to become depressed, skip school, and commit suicide. In addition, intimidation, threats, sexual harassment, prejudice, gossip, and ridicule are serious threats to successful education. Overall, about 33% of students are bullied at school by other students, and bullying leads to fights. Because Democrats and Republicans support two different types of social learning environments that will modify the behaviors of residents within their respective jurisdictions, and because public safety is an important social issue, it is important to know if there is …

Political Partisanship And Female High School Students Who Carry Handguns, Trenton Cameron, Wayne L. Davis

Lincoln Memorial University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

The United States is a gun culture nation, and gun violence is a serious problem. Because there are more than 280 million guns in America with over 65 million handguns in circulation, the Republicans believe that there are too many guns in America to prevent criminals from illegally obtaining them. In addition, only law-abiding residents will honor gun-control laws. As a result, law-abiding residents will become defenseless, which will promote crime. Democrats, on the other hand, believe that the gun-related crime problem will never be solved until actions are taken to eliminate the availability of handguns. After all, it is …

Reference Checks, Tara Myers, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What are reference checks?

Reference checks are hiring tools, typically used as one of the last steps in the hiring process. “A reference check generally involves contacting applicants’ former employers, supervisors, coworkers, and educators to verify previous employment and to obtain information about the individual’s knowledge, skills, abilities and character” (Society for Human Resource Management, 2020, p. 1). For example, potential employers use this as an opportunity to get additional information about applicants’ job performance, communication, time management, teamwork, professionalism; honesty; and attention to detail (Hendricks, Rupayana, Puchalski, & Robie, 2018). The questions used on reference checks depend on the …

An Ecological Approach To Improving Reentry Programs For Justice-Involved African American Men, Precious Skinner-Osei, Peter Claudius Osei

Journal of Prison Education and Reentry (2014-2023)

This article is a re-analysis of a previous study (please see https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2017.1402724). Considering the previous findings, in addition to the recent discussions around criminal justice reform, race, policing, and mental health in the United States, the data were reanalyzed using an updated version of QSR NVivo. The new findings revealed that reintegrating justice-involved African American men back into society requires reentry programs to utilize a different approach. Reentry programs must be constructed under the notion that the process involves multiple interrelated components that interact with larger systems outside the individual or organization's immediate control or organization advocating for them. …

Mental Health In College Students: Disclosure & Seeking Support, Abby R. Smargon

Honors Program Theses and Projects

A study was conducted through Bridgewater State University in order to better understand the mental health and help seeking behaviors of college students. The data collected served to provide information regarding what specific types of mental health difficulties are reported by college students.

Community Needs Assessment Of Somali Refugees’ Mental Health Needs, Sheila Stadstad

Social Work Independent Study Projects (ISP)

Within the Somali immigrant and refugee community there are severe stigma and negative associations regarding both experiencing mental health problems and pursuing services for those problems. According to research, both process and content adaptation must be made in providing mental health supports to Somali immigrants and refugees. Understanding the experiences and prominent needs of Somali refugees will assist social workers in offering mental health services that are culturally responsive and help social workers promote social justice through examining and addressing health disparity issues. This independent study project reviews the literature on the mental health needs of immigrants and refugees and …

Cultural Identity Formation: A Personal Narrative, Jose Carbajal

Faculty Publications

This paper provides an autoethnography of personal experiences and perceptions of being a minoritized individual. This is the story of a professional social worker learning to adapt to social norms and expectations of self. I discuss the struggles I experienced as an adolescent and as a young adult attending college. This narrative highlights the intersection of faith and social work at moments in my professional development. It is at this intersection that this social worker learns to live a holistic life without feeling discriminated against or ashamed of his identity. I begin to actualize a reality with imperfect beings who …

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Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

No abstract provided.

Risk And Protective Factors Associated With Custodial Grandparents’ Psychological Distress In Covid-19, Yanfeng Xu Ph.D., Merav Jedwab, Qi Wu, Sue Levkoff, Ling Xu

Faculty and Staff Publications

The fear and anxiety of COVID-19 and its related policy measures have increased individuals’ psychological distress. The objective of this study was to examine relationships between material hardship, parenting stress, social support, and resilience and custodial grandparents’ psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic and further investigate the moderating role of kinship license status. A cross-sectional survey was administered to collect data from custodial grandparents (N = 362) in the United States. T-tests, chi-square tests, and logistic regression models were conducted using STATA 15.0. Results indicated that material hardship (OR = 1.77, p < 0.001) was associated with higher odds of psychological distress, whereas custodial grandparents’ resilience (OR = 0.08, p < 0.001) and social support (OR = 0.39, p < 0.001) were associated with lower odds of experiencing psychological distress. Increased parenting stress in COVID-19 was not significantly associated with psychological distress. Kinship license status moderated the relationships between social support (OR = 0.23, p < 0.05), resilience (OR = 5.06, p < 0.05) and psychological distress. To address custodial grandparents’ psychological distress, more allocated emergency funds and tailored financial services should be provided to meet material needs, and interventions with a focus on resilience and social support are particularly needed. Although licensed custodial grandparents were more likely to experience psychological distress due to their pre-existing vulnerability than unlicensed counterparts, parallel services should be provided to all kinship caregivers.

Naturalism, Theism, And The Risks Of Professional Values Imposition In Psychotherapy With Theistic Clients, Jefrey S. Reber

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

The codes of ethics guiding the work of counselors and psychotherapists state that ethical practitioners pursue training in areas where they are at risk of imposing values. While training in the potential imposition of personal values is pervasive, training in the potential imposition of professional values is rare. Naturalism, the guiding worldview of science and psychology excludes theism, which is the guiding worldview of many people. Consequently, naturalism is a professional value that may be imposed on theistic clients in psychotherapy. The exclusion of theism from psychology and psychotherapy along with the naturalization of theistic experiences and concepts and the …