Digital Commons Network^™

Managed Care: The Questionable Triumph Of Financial Management, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Managed Care is a generic term for a broad and constantly changing mix of health insurance, assistance and payment programs which seek to retain quality and access while controlling the cost of physical and mental health services. The introduction of managed care fundamentally transforms the traditional “agency” relationships on which modern social work was built. Little research on its impact on social services is currently available. The managed care model, with its distinctive external patterns of accountability, raises serious questions about the continuing viability of the “social agency” model of practice to which social work has been committed for most …

Do You Know What You Selected? Customer Awareness In Choosing A Health Care Provider: Cost? Coverage? Service?, Bonnie Lin

Whittier Scholars Program

In this research paper the author attempts to analyze three different Health Care providers, specifically the ones that are offered to faculty at Whittier College (PPO, HMO, and Kaiser), based on different important aspects which include cost, coverage, and service (which is broken down into nine dimensions). In this work, the author analyzes a survey given to Whittier faculty concerning their Health Care provider and uses it to compare the plans to one another in order to find greatest customer satisfaction. The survey that the author created for the purposes of this paper is also included in the back for …

A Social Work Assessment Of Interventions With The Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Population With Regards To Intimacy, Beverly Rushlow

Masters Theses

Social work by nature has always been a hands on type of profession. With the explosion of new technology, social workers are being called upon to utilize technology to intervene with clients. Telecommunication is technology which can bring programs and images of people from one place to another with the use of television screens and phone lines.

This study explored the effectiveness of the utilization of interactive video within a classroom setting for the purpose of social work intervention. The study examined the impact social work intervention has upon a sample of individuals diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease participating …

A Case Study Approach To Examining The Social Functioning Of Learning Disabled Children With A Nonverbal Impairment, Laura Kate Donelan

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study is concerned with exploring the hypothesis that the deficits associated with the nonverbal learning disability syndrome (NLD) have a direct impact on the interpretation of nonverbal social cues and that this contributes to lower social functioning and as a result, higher rates of internalized pathology in those so diagnosed. Children with NLD have significant visual, organizational and perceptual deficits. In the literature it is suggested that these impairments lead to difficulty in interpreting the nonverbal social cues of others, which in turn leads to impairments in social functioning. To examine this hypothesis a case study of two individuals …

Client And Therapist Experiences With A Narrative Therapeutic Summary Format, Peter Duncan Whyte

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This qualitative research study explored the use of a narrative therapeutic summary letter format as an adjunctive intervention with clients engaged in individual therapy. The study’s sample consisted of six client subjects who received summary letters from six therapist subjects. Client subjects were furnished with written summaries of four consecutive counselling sessions. The summaries were based on pre-established narrative summary guidelines supplied to each respective therapist. After client subjects had received four consecutive summary letters, in-depth individual interviews were conducted with each client. The aim of these interviews was to explore and document clients’ experiences with the narrative therapeutic summary …

Latino Electoral And Nonelectoral Political Participation: Findings From The 1996 Chicago Latino Registered Voter Survey, Peter M. Sanchez, Maria Vidal De Haymes

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

The Latino population in the United States has been expanding at a tremendous rate in recent decades and as the number of Latinos in the United States grows, so does their potential for influencing American politics grow. Yet, we have a very limited understanding of Latino civic engagement, political behavior, and public policy opinions. This article presents the results of a survey of 408 registered Latino voters in Chicago, Illinois. The findings advance a multidimensional understanding of Latino political behaviors and attitudes through the examination of multiple measures of political participation and opinions concerning political parties and public issues such …

Clinician View Of The Use Of Influence In Social Work Practice, William K. Motlong

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

The Experiences Of African American Male Clinical Social Work Supervisors In Cross-Racial Supervision: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Analysis, Mikal N. Rasheed

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

The Challenge Of Adolescent Health: Views From Catholic Social Teaching And The Social And Medical Sciences, Brenda Wixson Donnelly, Dennis M. Doyle, Una M. Cadegan, Teresa L. Thompson, Patricia Voydanoff, Joan Mcguinness Wagner

History Faculty Publications

This book provides a multidisciplinary examination of the complex social issues surrounding adolescent health and health care delivery. It draws specifically on the resources of Catholic social teaching, presents an overview of the medical problems common among young people, and explores the social and familial contexts in which these problems arise. It provides a framework within which to view the conditions limiting the health and well-being of adolescents and to understand the resultant deterioration of the physical and mental health of adolescents in this country.

The insights gained from Catholic moral teaching are included with those of social science and …

An Exploratory Study Of The Meaning Of Prescription Medication To Children Diagnosed With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Catharina H. Clarke

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Cost Measurement, Roger A. Lohmann, Nancy Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

This article, which originally appeared in the 1997 Supplement to the Encyclopedia of Social Work is an overview and introduction to cost concepts as they are used in social work and human services. A few important ideas and concepts that have come into the picture since the original publication have been added to this version.

Escaping Poverty & Becoming Self-Sufficient, Richard K. Caputo

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Using logistic regression analysis on data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, this study found that sociodemographic factors were far more influential in determining escape from poverty and becoming self sufficient than social psychological factors. The number of years respondents lived in poverty was the best predictor of escaping poverty, while the number of years respondents made use of public assistance programs was the best predictor of becoming self-sufficient. Marital status and change in the number of hours worked influenced the prospect for escaping poverty, though not becoming self-sufficient. Implications regarding the changing philosophy of social welfare from income …

An Evaluation Of A Socio-Sexuality Education Program For Individuals With A Developmental Handicap, David Nelson Morrow

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This thesis is an evaluation of eight week socio-sexuality education group for seven individuals with a developmental handicap who live in a twenty-four hour supervised group home. Pre and post-test data collection measured the socio-sexual knowledge of the participants. Attitudes of their primary counsellors toward the sexuality of individuals with developmental handicaps were also measured pre and post-test. A qualitative analysis of the facilitators’ process notes and a post participation focus group with the counsellors provided an understanding of why changes in knowledge and attitude had, or had not, occurred There was a significant increase in the client groups overall …

The Dance Of Many Partners: A Case Study Of Interorganizational Collaboration In The Social Services Sector, Elizabeth G. Brown

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This thesis is a case study of interorganizational collaboration Qualitative methods facilitated reports of 25 participants’ experiences of a collaborative planning process to restructure children's social services in London, Ontario (Canada). The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the process dynamics of collaboration. Factors that impeded and/or facilitated collaboration were discussed. The influence of asymmetrical social relations of power on collaboration was observed in examples participants cited. However, much of the literature reviewed on factors that influence interorganizational collaboration did not include a critical analysis of social relations of power in collaboration. Social relations of power must …

As If Born To: The Social Construction Of A Deficit Identity Position For Adopted Persons, Lise M. Beauchesne

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Many adopted persons report experiencing ongoing problems with identity, often resulting in feelings of personal deficiency to imprison their sense of self. The dominant position of the literature eon adoption individualizes and problematizes “identity” issues by locating the source of difficulties to individual traits of the adopted person and his/her adoptive family. Consequently, the struggle associated with the identity “adopted” is typically constructed as an individual struggle.

Drawing on my own lived experience as an adopted women, I have been engaged in a critical inquiry of the traditional view of adoption in order to understand the problem of identity not …

0653: Frances S. Hensley Papers, 1979-1983, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection contains materials related to the West Virginia White House Conference on Families held in 1980 and the Women’s Work Conference held in Huntington, West Virginia in 1983. WVWHC materials include conference schedules, rules, and planning materials for West Virginia’s participation in this initiative as well as materials related to publicity, testimony from scholars, newspaper and magazine articles about the conference and about families in American life, the history, goals, and suggested themes as supplied by the White House, as well as expectations for state activities. A large part of these materials are letters and documentation sent from the …

Balancing The Demands Of Employment And Family Life: Results Of The Family Caregiving Survey, Eileen M. Brennan, John Poertner

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article describes patterns of work and family balance that were examined for employed parents who give family care to children with serious emotional disorders. A secondary analysis of data from the Family Caregiver Survey was performed for a subsample of 184 caregivers employed outside the home or having a partner employed full time. Families having different work structures (patterns of part- or full-time employment and of parenting arrangements) reported significantly different levels of job stress, pleasure in work and intimate relationships, work used as coping, and satisfaction handling home responsibilities. Although reported child behaviors were significantly related to stress …

The Impact Of Juvenile Curfew Enforcement On Crime Statistics, Kevin Orron Thomas

Theses and Graduate Projects

While America's overall crime rate is in decline, juvenile crime is on the rise. One strategy to help prevent and reduce this phenomenon is the enforcement of a nocturnal juvenile curfew. In a five year period (1990-1994) fifty percent of major American cities took legislative action to enact a curfew ordinance for the first time, or revised an existing ordinance. The purpose of this study was to examine the enforcement of curfew as it related to the reduction or prevention of juvenile crime. The study analyzed selected crime statistics from two city's comparing and contrasting pre and post curfew enforcement …

Women Behind Bars: Trends And Policy Issues, Mark S. Kaplan, Jennifer E. Sasser

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In the crusade to get tough on crime, policy makers have also gotten tough on women, drawing them into prisons in rapidly growing numbers. Today, incarcerated women are predominately poor, uneducated, and unskilled; are disproportionately African American and Latina young women with children; and have severe health and mental health problems. This article examines the characteristics and needs of these women and presents recommendations for their more humane and pragmatic treatment and for social policy that is relevant for the decarceration of this country's soaring female prison population.

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 23, No. 4 (December 1996)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• IMPROVING SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE WITH PERSONS WHO ARE HOMELESS AND MENTALLY ILL - Carol T. Mowbray, Shirley P. Thraser, Evan Cohen, and Deborah Bybee
• PREDICTORS OF DEPRESSION AMONG WORKERS AT THE TIME OF A PLANT CLOSING - Nancy R. Vosler and Deborah Page-Adams
• WOMEN BEHIND BARS: TRENDS AND POLICY ISSUES - Mark S. Kaplan and Jennifer E. Sasser
• IMPLICIT BELIEFS ABOUT CHANGE: A THEORY-GROUNDED MEASURE APPLIED TO COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS SERVING CHILDREN, YOUTH, AND FAMILIES - Susan B. Silverberg, Sherry C. Betts, Angela J. Huebner, and Sonia Cota-Robles
• PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZING - Sung Sil Lee Sohng …

Services Provided By A Homeless Intervention: Policy And Planning Implications, Carol T. Mowbray, Deborah Bybee

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Despite the acknowledged need for effective programs to serve persons who are homeless and mentally ill, few evaluations of these programs provide quantitative details on service provision. Such information can be useful to planners for replication and also for public policy concerning the need to mandate services most in demand. This report on a successful outreach intervention reports information on service amounts, duration, and types, as well as identifying predictors of service use. The overall amount of service provided to eligible participants varied substantially. While the median duration was only three months, repeat service episodes were common. For most clients, …

Occupational Aspiration Among African-Americans: A Case For Affirmative Action, Ronald E. Hall

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The recent attack upon Affirmative Action in the workplace demands that merit be the sole criterion of employment. Policies designed to eliminate discriminatory practices are in themselves discriminatory and suggest minorities are inferior. Such suggestions are archaic and simplistic. Each assumes that the workplace operates in a social vacuum when in fact a complex system of cultural norms precedes the influence of merit. For African-Americans color is a predcedent of merit. The present study was undertaken to determine the implications of color in the workplace by analyzing it vis a vis occupational aspiration. Using a sample of African- American college …

A Statewide Study Of Neighbors' Knowledge Of And Reactions To Physical Child Abuse, Gary W. Paquin, Janet Ford

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Neighbors are believed to have an important influence on child abuse prevention and intervention. This article reports the results of a statewide telephone survey of Kentucky (n = 650) which examined the extent to which respondents suspected neighbors of child abuse (9.4%), and had ever taken in a neighbor's abused or neglected child (7.2%). Variables related to parenting (having a minor child, age, employment status, receiving AFDC benefits) were the only demographic characteristics significantly associated with suspicion of neighbors' abuse; only being the parent of a minor child was significantly associated with taking in a neighbor's child. The results imply …

The Disposable Workforce. Thomas S. Moore.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Thomas S. Moore, The Disposable Workforce. Hawthorne, NY: 1996. $37.95 hardcover, $18.95 papercover.

Improving Social Work Practice With Persons Who Are Homeless And Mentally Ill, Carol T. Mowbray, Shirley P. Thrasher, Evan Cohen, Deborah Bybee

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Despite a proliferation of programs targeted for persons who are homeless and mentally ill, few reports in the literature detail the challenges experienced or strategies utilized by workers, the majority of whom are social workers. The present study reports results from two focus group sessions held with staff running a model service intervention for this population at two separate sites. The methodology that was utilized quanitified results, allowing presentation of themes, as well as comparisons of the frequency of responses across categories and by site. Staff perceived barriersa ssociatedw ith client behaviors and characteristicsp redominated at both sites. However, systemic …

Participatory Research And Community Organizing, Sung Sil Lee Sohng

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The paper summarizes the political economy of knowledge production in an increasingly privatized, postindustrial world of knowledge society. This analysis is linked to the emergence of participatory research movements. It argues that the participatory approach to community research offers epistemology and methodology that address people, power and praxis in our postmodern, information society. The paper then describes howa participatory research project is carried out in community practice, articulating key moments and the roles of the researcher and participants. In order to develop this understanding further, it examines the efforts of two specific projects and shows how knowledge production can serve …

Gay And Lesbian Adoptions: A Theoretical Examination Of Policy-Making And Organizational Decision Making, Thom Reilly

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Most of the inquiry into gay and lesbian adoptions has focused on the rights of this population toadopt, the constitutional issues surrounding gay and lesbian parenting, and the outcomes of children raised by homosexual parents. There has been scant focus at the policy-making or organizational level on this issue. Why have public adoption agencies failed to provide either regulation or written policy on the topic of adoption of children by gays and lesbians?

This article pursues a theoretical examination of policy-making and organizational decision making to explore this issue. Additionally, a survey was distributed to adoption officials in each of …

Review Of The Poverty Of Welfare Reform. Joel F. Handler. Reviewed By Howard Karger, University Of Houston., Howard Karger

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Joel F. Handler, The Poverty of Welfare Reform. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1995. $25.00 hardcover, $12.00 papercover.

Review Of Growth Theories In The Light Of The East Asian Experience. Takatoshi Ito And Anne 0. Krueger (Eds.). Reviewed By K. L. Tang, University Of Northern British Columbia., K. L. Tang

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Takatoshi Ito & Anne 0. Krueger (Eds.), Growth Theories in Light of the East Asian Experience. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 1995. $65 Hardcover.

America Unequal. Sheldon Danziger And Peter Gottscshalk.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Sheldon Danziger and Peter Gottscshalk, America Unequal. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995. $26.00 hardcover.