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Praxis In The Human Services As A Political Act, David G. Gil

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

My purpose in this paper is to develop a rationale for, and to suggest approaches to, the conscious integration of a political component into professional practice. Involved in this is a re-definition or re-conceptualization of professional roles in the human services as potentially powerful means of a radical, revolutionary political strategy. The overall aim of such a political strategy is to eliminate the systemic sources and dynamics of social, economic, and political inequalities - in my view, the major underlying causes of the entire array of social problems with which the human services profess to be concerned.

An Exploratory Study Of Runaway Female Adolescents In A Residential Treatment Center, Mary E. Cook, Stan Jasper

Dissertations and Theses

If correctional institutions are to function according to established criteria, that is, to "correct" the deviant behavior of juvenile delinquents, then one obvious requirement is to have continuous contact with that individual over a period of time. This research project is one attempt to study runaways from the juvenile delinquent girls institution. This study specifically focuses on what factors influence a girl to run away and what factors encourage her to stay at Villa St. Rose.

Both researchers discovered in working at Villa St. Rose that one the biggest obstacles for the treatment program was the number of runaways that …

Review Of Women Of The Forest, By Yolanda Murphy And Robert F. Murphy, Janet Shapiro

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

No abstract provided.

Differential Adherence To Community Mental Health Ideology Among First Year Social Work Students, Leo Munter

Dissertations and Theses

Sixty first year students in the Portland State University School of Social Work were given the Baker--Schulberg Community Mental Health Ideology Scale. The resultant scores are reported for Community Mental Health Training Project (CMHTP) Students, Direct Service Students and Planning Students. The Scores are compared with each other and with the original norming groups for the instrument. CMHTP students were found to have a significantly stronger adherence to the community mental health ideology than other students, but all groups examined were found to be sympathetic to the ideology.

Social Policies And Social Development - A Humanistic-Egalitarian Perspective, David G. Gil

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This essay explores the relationship of social policies and of policy-relevant societal values to social development. Its thesis is that the scope, direction, and quality of the social development process are largely shaped by the social policies and the dominant value positions of societies.

Social Change And Social Action, Bernard J. Coughlin, S. K. Khinduka

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

We define social action as a strategy to obtain limited social change at the intermediate or macro levels of society which is generally used in nonconsensus situations and employs both "norm-adhering" and "norm-testing" modes of intervention. In this formulation, the key concept is social change. This paper proposes to explore certain aspects of social change as they apply to social action.

The discussion is divided into two parts. The first is a brief summary of pertinent social change theory, presented as background for part two in which are presented and discussed certain propositions about planned change that are critical to …

Humanism As Demystification, Alfred Mcclug Lee

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Under a variety of labels, many academic disciplines focus on the unsettling impact of fresh and vivid interpersonal experiences upon pre-existing beliefs and behaviour patterns. Reference is to philosophical discussions of sophism and humanism, historical theories about frontier influences, anthropological interest in culture shock, psychiatric concern with empathy and with perceptive listening, and sociological analyses of marginality, uses of participant observation and life-history data, and clinical studies of social behavior. Their significant similarity is that they are all discussions of demystifying influences on social thought and action. They are demystifying in the sense that they tend to translate the distant, …

The Utilization Of Preventive Health Care Services By Low Income Members Of A Comprehensive Prepaid Health Plan : The Impact Of Outreach Services, Linda Elmlund Mahoney

Dissertations and Theses

A reading of recent studies in preventative health care behavior recalls the proverb about the blind men and the elephant: each man is able to describe the part of the animal he is closest to, but none can see, and so none can put their diverse and often contradictory opinions together to come up with an accurate description of the whole elephant. Similarly, in preventative health care studies, each researcher or research group is able to observe the preventative health care utilization patterns of specific populations at particular times, but the conclusions reached are often based on less than complete …

A Profile Of Women Volunteers, Vana O'Brien

Dissertations and Theses

Volunteerism has been the subject of much controversy in the last few years inasmuch as it is so often identified as a women's issue. Many areas, previously considered the rightful domain of women, have come under scrutiny as women question the value of their participation in “feminine activities.” As stereotypes are examined, fictions are explored and facts determined so that these former stereotypes can be reviewed in a new light. Many persons are becoming familiar via the popular media with these stereotyped roles (i.e., woman as “Good Mother”) , and learn that, for example, “good mothering” is not a monolithic …

A Study Describing The Counseling Practices Of The Pastors In The Pacific Northwest Conference Of The Free Methodist Church, Jere' Slingerland Howell

Dissertations and Theses

The study was designed to determine the general knowledge of counseling techniques and procedures by pastors . The research was in no way designed to make value judgments on t he effectiveness of pastoral counseling or the appropriateness of techniques utilized by counseling pastors. It has provided a general overview of pastoral counseling within a specific population.

Economic Coping Patterns Of Chinese Foreign Students In Portland State University, Kim Bik Au

Dissertations and Theses

The nature of this study is exploratory. It aims to explore the financial situation and the resources which students can use to cope with their problems. The primary purpose is to obtain a clearer picture of the situations of certain Chinese foreign students, to help those who intend to study abroad with their budgeting and planning. A secondary aim is to draw the attention of authorities concerned to improve or expand services to foreign students who already have overwhelming adjustment problems and who still have to carry the additional burden of pressure from restrictive regulations.

A Specialized Child Protective Service Unit, Paul O. Powers, Bonnie J. Vance

Dissertations and Theses

The North Portland Branch in Region 1 of the State of Oregon Children's Services Division had at the time of this study the only specialized Child Protective Service unit, where all protective service workers are under one supervisor, in that region. The supervisor and casework staff of the unit requested the study in the Spring of 1975. The purpose of the study was to provide a descriptive analysis of the unit 's time and effort on case activities. Through this analysis the research sought to give an overview of what is involved in Working with protective service cases and underscore …

A Survey Of Myths Concerning The Crime Of Rape, Marilyn Hammon, Joyce Jerabek, Michèle Mairesse

Dissertations and Theses

In view of the proliferation of recent publicity on the topic of rape via the news media and popular publications, the researchers decided that a study concerning rape would be timely and informative. An examination of the literature resulted in the discovery that there were only two principal studies published. These were by John MacDonald, Rape Offenders and Their Victims, 1971, and Menachem Amir, Patterns in Forcible Rape, 1971. Other sources invariably used the results of these studies as a basis for their comments and conclusions. The recurring emphasis on the commonly held myths (as described later in this study) …

The Use Of Dance As A Tool For Personality Integration, Barbara Throckmorton Rankin

Dissertations and Theses

This study is exploratory in nature. The material was highly individualistic and subjective, so I have deviated from the traditional empirical research approach. My purpose is to grasp what kind of person was attracted to attending a dance workshop. How does Halprin’s use of dance assist people in learning about themselves? What kinds of information do people learn about themselves through her dance process? What techniques does Halprin combine with the medium of dance to get results? Are people enhanced, or better integrated by the Halprin process? Finally, my intention was to be stimulated by the Halprin process to explore …

A Study Of Requests For Voluntary Admission To Oregon State Hospital, Julie Kern, Jeanne Miller, Alice Plummer

Dissertations and Theses

This study was undertaken in February and March of 1975 in order to provide in depth analysis of those seeking hospital admission. It is a descriptive study of requests for voluntary admission to Oregon State Hospital. Special care was taken to incorporate the study in such a way that the current admitting procedures would not be rearranged or changed in any way.

Essentially the study asks the questions:

• Who makes self-requests for hospitalization?
• Where do they come from? When? How do they get there? Why do they come?
• What is the history of their contact with other community agencies for …

The Proposed Community Involvement Activities Of The Multnomah County Department Of Public Safety : A Descriptive Study, Vertis Williams, Leearthur Madison

Dissertations and Theses

Serving in the capacity of Sheriff's interns during the time the decision had been made to implement Neighborhood Team Policing, the writers of this study propose to participate in evaluating the impact and effectiveness of the project. However, due to the size and complexity of such a task--and the time restrictions placed upon completion of this study--the boundaries of this research will be limited to those of providing descriptive data on the performance of project activities as they relate to the achievement of the objectives of Goal 1 of the Neighborhood Team Policing Project: Improved police-community mutual involvement and problem-solving.

Securing Services For The Older Population : A Training Manual For I And R Workers, Catherine M. Nemmert

Dissertations and Theses

This manual is written as a self-training guide on the elements of Information and Referral (I and R) service and on the process of providing I and R to the older population. The manual attempts to build a useful framework for methods of providing I and R service. The manual is directed at workers who are providing I and R services to the elderly. It is intended to serve as an orientation guide on the basic elements of I and R service and as a "how to" guide for methods and techniques of service provision. The new worker should find …

A Study Of The Relationship Between The Adolescents' Knowledge Of Laws And Their Attitudes Towards The Police, Barbara Mccallum

Dissertations and Theses

Crime in the United States has risen at an alarming rate in the last few years and along with it, juvenile crime and delinquency. Society has had a difficult task trying to deal with this increased juvenile crime. Whereas the destructive, antisocial adult can be placed in prison or jail away from society, we are generally reluctant to institutionalize youth in such a manner. Rather, the feeling is that there is still hope for teenagers who commit crimes, that the community rather than institutions can and should be primarily responsible for trying to prevent and/or rehabilitate delinquents.

In the fall …

A Model For Teaching Small Group Skills In A Laboratory Setting, Larry Ferguson, James Reavis

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this research practicum is to present the development, implementation, and evaluation of a model for teaching small group skills. This model was designed for a class in small groups that the authors of this paper taught at Portland State University in the School of Social Work. In designing this class, the authors were concerned with goals somewhat different than the more traditional goal of imparting knowledge about groups to the learner. The main goal of this class was to teach to students skills in working with small groups. This approach required developing a knowledge base about small …

A Study Of Counseling At Reed College, Martin Shawn Fisher, Mark Masterson

Dissertations and Theses

The main purpose of the study was to develop information which would be useful to the counselors of the Reed College Counseling Service in their practice. Specifically, information was sought on the outcomes of one to one counseling sessions. The aim of the inquiry was to determine some of the dynamics and results of individual counseling with Reed students. The goal was to discover information about successful and unsuccessful counseling sessions which would benefit the counselors in the provision of their services.

A review of the literature on outcome research in psychotherapy suggested that focusing the study on the treatment …

Leadership Styles And Staff Satisfaction In Four Nursing Homes: Implications For Service Delivery, Carol Nightengale

Dissertations and Theses

This is a study of four nursing care facilities in Portland, Oregon in 1975-1976, which examines the relationship between leadership style and staff satisfaction, leadership style and patient satisfaction, and staff satisfaction and patient satisfaction.

The Impact Of Ssi On The Social Security Administration: An Intraorganizational Study With Interorganizational Ramifications, Patricia A. Parker

Dissertations and Theses

In 1974 a revolutionary new income maintenance program was implemented in the United States. It was revolutionary in style because it provided a federalized income floor for the elderly, blind and disabled, previously provided for under various federal, state, and local welfare programs. The program was called Supplemental Security Income, or SSI.

The Social Security Administration, a long-standing institution in the financial community because of old age, survivors and disability insurance (OASDI) benefits, was chosen to administer SSI. SSI represented a new innovation for the Social Security Administration who had never before had to provide non-work-related benefits to indigents. In …

Effects Of Increased Fuel Costs On Households In A Low Income Neighborhood In Portland, Oregon, Ora Allen, Betty Heald

Dissertations and Theses

This study is made up of two parts which explore some of the effects upon individual households making up a sample of a low income neighborhood in Portland. The first section in Chapter II presents a survey of sample households in our identified area, securing personal information given by adult members along with their responses to questions concerning effects on their budgets and the adaptations they have made to reduce the cost of fuel. The second section compares costs of fuel for January, February, and March of 1975 with the same months of 1974 for another sample in the same …

Social Work Continuing Education Needs Assessment Study, Mary Lou Timme

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of the needs assessment study was to obtain current, accurate, concrete information on the continuing education needs and preferences of selected social service practitioners. In addition, the intention was to gather information that could actually be used in planning and continuing education offerings by the Portland State University School of Social Work Continuing Education Coordinator.

Strategies For Reducing Recidivism Of Mental Patients In Region I, Ellen Magaziner, Kathleen Mccarthy, Reyn Staffel

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose, of this study was to determine the type of community resources which facilitate community adjustment and tenure for ex-mental patients. Particular emphasis was placed on the extremely visible variable of post-hospital 1iving arrangements available to mentally and/or emotionally disturbed patients. Initially, the researchers assumed that such living situations would be a decisive element in the aftercare needs of ex-mental patients. However, the study was in itself broad enough to introduce other significant factors of equal or greater importance to the target population. The study, then, attempted to assess the relative value of such interrelated activities as living situation, …

The No-Fault Dissolution Of Marriage Act In Oregon: A Study Of Its Effect On Selected Factors, Dennis Arthur Armstrong

Dissertations and Theses

In October of 1972, the Dissolution of Marriage Act (hereinafter referred to as the Act) became a part of the law and judicial practice of the state of Oregon. The Act represents a significant change in Oregon's law. It also represents a significant evolutionary development in the 'attitude of the legal community toward the process of divorce or as it is now termed, dissolution of marriage.

The Act was a response to extensive criticism from professionals and from the public. The problem is the legislators were not sure of the effects of the Act and now that it is in …

Research In The M.S.W. Curriculum: Correlates Of An Effects On Student Attitudes And Knowledge, Daniel Filliol

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

To determine the effect of graduate social work research courses on student research knowledge and attitudes towards research and to find predictors of these, two groups of social work students—one tested prior to and another tested following their social work research courses—were measured on several antecedent variables and on a test of research knowledge, attitude and interest in research as a career. Having an undergraduate major in psychology was predictive of high research knowledge and having had prior research work experience was indicative of a positive attitude towards research. Post-research course students demonstrated greater knowledge of research and a stronger …

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 3, No. 3 (January 1976)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Social Policies and Social Development-A Humanistic-Egalitarian Perspective - DAVID G. GIL, pp. 242
• Public Welfare: Utilization, Change, Appropriations, Services - JOHN E. TROPMAN, pp.264.
• The Punishment of Divorced Mothers - HERMAN BORENZWEIG, pp. 291
• Low Income, Ethnicity and Voluntary Association Involvement - NANCY G. KUTNER, pp. 311
• Social Change and Social Action - BERNARD J. COUGHLIN, S.K. KHINDUKA, pp. 322
• The Mystique of Expertise in Social Service: An Alaska Example - DOROTHY M. JONES, pp.332
• Humanism as Demystification -ALFRED McCLUNG LEE, pp. 347

Public Welfare: Utilization, Change, Appropriations, Service, John E. Tropman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

During the decade of the 1960's there was continually increasing interest in the programs of public welfare. This interest sprang from several sources. Citizens, always worried about welfare expenditures, developed resurgent concern. Recipients, long a quiet group, became more active, forming the National Welfare Rights Organization. And then there was the rediscovery of poverty as a social problem, and a realization that very many Americans were poor, many more than anyone had somehow realized.

The general interest in poverty and the measures used to relieve it had an effect on the academic community, generating some sustained and critical attention to …

The Punishment Of Divorced Mothers, Herman Borenzweig

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

As the clinical social worker to seven young divorced mothers I began to wonder why the lives of these women had become so remarkably unbearable. I compared the experiences of the women who were coming to me for group psychotherapy with about thirty similar divorced mothers who were also members of the West Side Jewish Community Center of Los Angeles. All the women were experiencing similar difficulties. I also explored some of the literature about the problems faced by divorced mothers! This essay is the culmination of my research. It summarizes some of my conjectures about the disadvantaged social status …