Digital Commons Network^™

Easy Effective Counseling: A Strategy For Busy Pastors, Benjamin Karner

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Pastors are expected to counsel various people with various problems. However, in most circumstances, pastors have little time to prepare for counseling sessions and cannot be long-term therapists. Therefore, it is critical for the pastor to be able to quickly and effectively give substantial guidance to counselees. The purpose of this project is to develop and implement a pastoral counseling program with a decision management focus. A survey will be conducted with at least one hundred (100) pastors who engage in counseling as part of their regular ministry duties. This project will develop and communicate a practical counseling approach for …

The Religious Influence Inside Bali Orphanages, Shelly Strickland

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

I first wanted to research orphanages because I love children. I decided to visit three orphanages each of a different religious affiliation. I set out to find 3 non-corrupt orphanages. I decided to first visit Elisama Christian orphanage where I spent a week playing with the children, interviewing the staff, and observing their daily lives. I then visited Tat Twam Asi Hindu orphanage for girls and observed their daily routines as well as their Full Moon celebration. My third visit was to Yappa Muslim Orphanage for boys. During my final week I found that I still had many questions and …

Early Family Ties And Marital Stability Over 16 Years: The Context Of Race And Gender, Terri L. Orbuch, José A. Bauermeister, Edna Brown, Brandyn Dior Mckinley

School for Social Work: Faculty Publications

Spouses' emotional ties to family early in marriage are linked to marital outcomes, but little is known about how these ties affect marital stability and whether these effects vary by race and gender. The present study examines the links between emotional ties to family of origin and in-laws in the first year of marriage and marital stability over the first 16years of marriage. Data were collected as part of a longitudinal study following Black American (n=199) and White American (n=174) married couples. Analyses revealed that perceptions of closeness to in-laws early in marriage were associated with odds of divorce over …

Gender Differences In Material, Psychological, And Social Domains Of The Income Gradient In Mortality: Implications For Policy, Peter Muennig, Meghan Kuebler, Jaeseung Kim, Dusan Todorovic, Zohn Rosen

Faculty and Staff Publications

We set out to examine the material, psychological, and sociological pathways mediating the income gradient in health and mortality. We used the 2008 General Social Survey-National Death Index dataset (N = 26,870), which contains three decades of social survey data in the US linked to thirty years of mortality follow-up. We grouped a large number of variables into 3 domains: material, psychological, and sociological using factor analysis. We then employed discrete-time hazard models to examine the extent to which these three domains mediated the income-mortality association among men and women. Overall, the gradient was weaker for females than for males. …

The Social And Health Service Needs Of Aboriginal Peoples In Smaller Urban Centers In Southern Ontario: A Synthesis Paper For Service Agencies, Martin Cooke, Julia Woodhall, Jennifer Mcwhirter

Population Change and Lifecourse Strategic Knowledge Cluster Discussion Paper Series/ Un Réseau stratégique de connaissances Changements de population et parcours de vie Document de travail

The disproportionate needs of urban Aboriginal people make it important for urban social and health service providers to understand the conditions faced by this population. This synthesis paper reviews recent literature on urban Aboriginal populations in order to identify their characteristics and main areas of need. It is meant to inform those who work in health and social service planning and delivery in smaller urban centers, particularly non-Aboriginal service agencies in Southern Ontario.

The existing research shows that urbanized First Nations, Métis and Inuit have greater needs for specific health, cultural, justice, financial, and educational services. Furthermore, the literature indicates …

An Examination Of The Motivations Of Attendees At Cal Poly's "Change The Status Quo" Conference, James Statton

Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Administration

The social activism community exists to address the collective responsibility of meeting needs and fighting for the rights of the disadvantaged and/or marginalized populations. The Change the Status Quo conference aims to educate, motivate, and activate attendees. The purpose of this study was to measure the motivations of attendees at the Change the Status Quo conference at Cal Poly to become involved in social activism. The study was conducted through a questionnaire distributed and collected during the final workshop of the conference. The findings from 72 participants indicated that most were female and college students. Most were also frequently involved …

A Longitudinal Examination Of The Relationship Between Sexual Sensation Seeking And Sti-Related Risk Factors Among African American Females, Dexter R. Voisin

Faculty Scholarship

Sexual sensation seeking has been correlated with STI-related risk factors in numerous cross sectional studies. However, no current studies have examined whether sexual sensation seeking is longitudinally related to a broad spectrum of STI-related factors such as consistent condom use, number of sexual partners, frequency of partner sexual communication, self-efficacy to refuse sex, and fear of condom negotiation. We explored these relationships over a 12-month period among a sample of 715 African American females attending three STI clinics in Georgia that were recruited into a larger randomized clinic intervention study. Utilizing A-CASI technology to assess all self-reported measures and employing …

Influences Of Environmental Factors On The Physical Functioning Of Older Adults In Urban China, Fei Sun, Chuntian Lu, Jordan I. Kosberg

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study examined the influence of municipal-level environmental factors (i.e., economy, pollution, health care) on the physical functioning of the elder population in urban China using a two level hierarchical linear model (HLM) method. Data came from the 2005 wave of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey, including 3,830 older adults (Ma, - 86.4) randomly selected from 152 cities across China. Municipal-level data retrieved from the Chinese Statistical Yearbook 2005 include indictors of economic development, pollution, and health service availability. Higher gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and more doctors were associated with fewer functioning limitations. The effect of selfrated …

Are Housing First Programs Effective? A Research Note, Danielle Groton

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper briefly reviews studies comparing the effectiveness of various Housing First programs to Continuum of Care programs for outcomes related to housing retention, substance use, and mental health. A literature search was completed entering the search term "Housing First" in electronic databases (PsycINFO, JSTOR, and Web of Science) to find potential studies. Of the 67 items produced by the literature search, after screening for outcome studies of Housing First programs that evaluate housing retention, substance use, and/or mental health in comparison to other programs or treatment as usual, 5 final studies were selected for inclusion in the review. Of …

Phenomenology And Hbse: Making The Connection, Phillip Dybicz

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

A number of postmodern practitioners have turned to theorists such as Foucault, Derrida, and Wittgenstein to inform their intervention efforts. Yet it may be difficult for the average practitioner, or educator teaching HBSE, to make the connection between these theorists and human behavior. Phenomenology, as a theory of ontology, serves as afundamental theory of the postmodern paradigm. As such, phenomenological concepts such as existence and essence, presence and absence, and distinctness and vagueness offer much in illustrating the link between postmodern theories of meaningmaking and intervention efforts seeking change in human behavior.

The First And The Last: A Confluence Of Factors Leading To The Integration Of Carver School Of Missions And Social Work, 1955, Tanya Smith Brice, T. Laine Scales

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The Carver School of Missions and Social Work, affiliated with the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, was an all-female social work program that eventually became the first seminary-affiliated social work program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. This article examines Carver's efforts towards racial integration during the late 1950s, which was a time of heightened racial tensions across the United States. This article is informed by a series of oral histories of the two African American women who integrated Carver in 1955.

Health Inequalities And The Welfare State In European Families, Simone Sarti, Marco Alberio, Marco Terraneo

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Using EU-Silc data from 2005, our aim in this article is to estimate how self-assessed health and the gradient between education and health vary among individuals in different European countries, considering their contextual socioeconomic vulnerability. In order to do this, we use a hierarchical model with individuals nested in households at the second level, and in various European countries at the third level. Our main research interest is on the modelling variables associated with better health conditions and their improvement or worsening according not only to micro/ individual and macro/national levels but also to the household: a level on which …

Perceived Discrimination And Subjective Well-Being Among Rural-To-Urban Migrants In China, Juan Chen

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Using data from a 2009 national household survey (N = 2,866), this study investigates the differential experience of perceived institutional and interpersonal discrimination among rural-to-urban migrants in China, and the consequences of these two types of discrimination on measures of subjective well-being. The results indicate that rural-to-urban migrants perceive institutional discrimination more frequently than interpersonal discrimination. However, perceived interpersonal discrimination has a more detrimental effect than perceived institutional discrimination for rural-to-urban migrants, and this effect takes the form of self-rated physical health and depressive distress. The research calls for a more equitable social environment and equal distribution of resources and …

Review Of The Price Of Inequality: How Today's Divided Society Endangers Our Future. Joseph E. Stiglitz. Reviewed By Mary Huff Stevenson., Mary Huff Stevenson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Joseph E. Stiglitz, The Price of Inequality: How Today's Divided Society Endangers Our Future. New York: W.W. Norton & Company (2012). $27.95 (hardcover).

Review Of Behind The Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, And Hope In A Mumbai Undercity. Katherine Boo. Reviewed By Edward U. Murphy., Edward U. Murphy

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Katherine Boo. Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity. Random House (2012). $27.00 (hardcover).

Review Of To Promote The General Welfare: The Case For Big Government. Steven Conn (Ed.). Reviewed By Sheila D. Collins, Sheila D. Collins

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Steven Conn, (Ed.), To Promote the General Welfare: The Case for Big Government. Oxford University Press (2012). $19.95. (paperback).

Review Of Three Worlds Of Relief: Race, Immigration, And The American Welfare State From The Progressive Era To The New Deal. Cybelle Fox. Reviewed Bymarguerite G. Rosenthal., Marguerite G. Rosenthal

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Cybelle Fox, Three Worlds of Relief: Race, Immigration, and the American Welfare State from the Progressive Era to the New Deal. Princeton University Press (2012). $35 (paperback); $80 (hardcover).

Review Of The Future Of The Welfare State: Social Policy Attitudes And Social Capital In Europe. Heikki Ervasti, Jorgen Goul Andersen, Torben Fridberg And Kristen Ringdal (Eds.). Reviewed By Larry Nackerud., Larry Nackerud

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Heikki Ervasti, Jorgen Goul Andersen, Torben Fridberg and Kristen Ringdal (Eds.). The Future of the Welfare State: Social Policy Attitudes and Social Capital in Europe. Edgar Elgar Publishing Limited (2012). $110.00 (hardcover).

Review Of Mother-Talk: Conversations With Mothers Of Lesbian Daughters And Ftm Transgender Children. Sarah E Pearlman. Reviewed By Melinda Mccormick., Melinda Mccormick

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Sarah F. Pearlman, Mother-Talk: Conversations with Mothers of Lesbian Daughters and FTM Transgender Children. Demeter Press, (2012). $24.95 (paperback).

Review Of Shattering Culture: American Medicine Responds To Cultural Diversity. Mary-Jo Delvecchio Good, Sarah S. Willen, Seth Donal Hannah, Ken Vickery, & Lawrence Taeseng Park (Eds.). Reviewed By Kenny Kwong., Kenny Kwong

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Mary-Jo DelVecchio Good, Sarah S. Willen, Seth Donal Hannah, Ken Vickery, & Lawrence Taeseng Park (Eds.). Shattering Culture: American Medicine Responds to Cultural Diversity. New York: Russell Sage Foundation (2011). $34.62 (paperback).

Review Of Taking It Big: C. Wright Mills And The Making Of Political Intellectuals. Stanley Aronowitz. Reviewed By Gordon Fellman., Gordon Fellman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Stanley Aronowitz, Taking It Big: C. Wright Mills and the Making of Political Intellectuals. Columbia University Press, (2012) $32.50 (hardcover).

Paperwork First, Not Work First: How Caseworkers Use Paperwork To Feel Effective, Tifany Taylor

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

A great deal of research has explored welfare agency caseworkers, especially how they use discretion. Paperwork in county welfare bureaucracies, however, is often taken-for-granted by caseworkers and researchers studying welfare. In this case study of a county welfare program in rural North Carolina, I focus on how caseworkers use paperwork through document analysis, interviews, and observation data. My findings illustrate caseworkers spend far more time on paperwork than they actually spend assisting program participants find employment. Finally, I show how caseworkers use paperwork to feel effective in a job that offers little to help clients move from welfare to work.

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 40, No. 1 (March 2013)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• PAPERWORK FIRST, NOT WORK FIRST: HOW CASEWORKERS USE PAPERWORK TO FEEL EFFECTIVE - Tifany Taylor
• INFLUENCES OF ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS ON THE PHYSICAL FUNCTIONING OF OLDER ADULTS IN URBAN CHINA - Fei Sun, Chuntian Lu, and Jordan I. Kosberg
• ARE HOUSING FIRST PROGRAMS EFFECTIVE? A RESEARCH NOTE - Danielle Groton
• PHENOMENOLOGY AND HBSE: MAKING THE CONNECTION - Phillip Dybicz
• THE FIRST AND THE LAST: A CONFLUENCE OF FACTORS LEADING TO THE INTEGRATION OF CARVER SCHOOL OF MISSIONS AND SOCIAL WORK, 1955 - Tanya Smith Brice and T. Laine Scales
• HEALTH INEQUALITIES AND THE WELFARE STATE IN EUROPEAN FAMILIES …

'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 …

Review Of The New Religious Intolerance. Martha C. Nussbaum. Reviewed By John Tropman., John Tropman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Martha C. Nussbaum, The New Religious Intolerance. Belknap/ Harvard (2012). $26.95 (hardcover).

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 …

Community Violence Exposure And Adolescent Delinquency: Examining A Spectrum Of Promotive Factors, Dexter R. Voisin

Faculty Scholarship

This study examined whether promotive factors (future expectations, family warmth, school attachment, and neighborhood cohesion) moderated relationships between community violence exposure and youth delinquency. Analyses were conducted using N = 2,980 sixth to eighth graders (Mage = 12.48; 41.1% males) from a racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse sample. After controlling for demographic factors, delinquency was positively associated with community violence exposure and inversely associated with each of the promotive factors. When interaction effects between all promotive factors and community violence exposure were examined simultaneously, only future expectations moderated the relationship between community violence exposure and delinquency. Specifically, community violence exposure …

The Determinants Of Within Metropolitan Immigrant Moves, Richard J. Smith, Catherine Schmitt-Sands

Social Work Faculty Publications

While the role of immigration and neighborhood change has been studied since the days of the Chicago School of Sociology, recent restrictions to immigration in concert with state and local initiatives to both enforce immigration policy or welcome immigrants raises new questions about neighborhood sorting within metropolitan areas. Policy makers are interested in recruiting high skilled and wealthy immigrants to attract investment and create jobs for native-born citizens. Some have endorsed welcoming immigrants as a solution to regional economic development and to stabilize high poverty urban neighborhoods. Are these immigrant recruitment policies realistic given existing patterns of immigrant housing location …

The Organizational Context Of Research-Minded Practitioners: Challenges And Opportunities, Bowen Mcbeath, Michael J. Austin

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

If some practitioners are more research minded than others, then promising approaches for bridging the research to practice gap may be developed by describing research-minded practitioners and examining how to locate and support them. This article follows this basic logic in providing an overview of organizational development and practitioner support models for increasing knowledge use in human service organizations. The article begins with a conceptual profile of research-minded practi- tioners—individuals with an affinity for empirical inquiry, critical thinking, and reflection allied with a commitment to data- driven organizational improvement—and the organizational settings needed to host research-minded practice. This is followed …

Parental Involvement And Academic Performance In Ghana, Gina Chowa, David Ansong, Issac Osei-Akoto

Center for Social Development Research

Parental Involvement and Academic Performance in Ghana