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Youth-Serving Agency's Prevention And Intervention Programs For Gangs, Julianne Gassman

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to describe the perception of directors of youth-serving agencies on what prevention and intervention programs have been implemented by youth-serving agencies in eastern Iowa. Directors of youth-serving agencies in the following cities in Iowa answered the questionnaire (Gang Program Assessment Questionnaire): Waterloo, Cedar Falls, Dubuque, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Iowa City, Coralville, Adel, Ankeny, Bondurant, Indianola, Johnston, Knoxville, Nevada, Newton, Pella, Pleasant Hill, Ames, Des Moines, Makquoketa, and Urbandale.

The Gang Assessment Program Questionnaire was used to analyze the extent to which gangs were perceived as active in each city as well as expectations for …

The Return To Family Intervention In Youth Services: A Juvenile Justice Case Study, Gordon Bazemore, Susan Day

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

After more than a decade of relative neglect, youth services policymakers in the late 1980s began targeting the family as a primary focus of intervention in the response to a range of deviant behavior. One recent example of this return to family intervention has been a renewed emphasis on family services in juvenile courts and juvenile justice agencies. This case study describes one attempt to implement a new "family-focused" intervention approach as part of a larger return to treatment-oriented probation services in an urban juvenile justice system. Based on interviews and participant observation data gathered during a nine month field …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of A Peer Mediation Program In A Elementary School, Dawn E. Berg

Theses and Graduate Projects

With the rise of violence in our society, communities, schools, and homes, we are challenged to find peaceful ways to resolve conflicts and learn how to live cooperatively with one another. Peer mediation programs in schools have been used as part of the solution to this challenge of preventing violence. This research study surveyed students who were trained as peer mediators and their parents to identify their perceptions of the effectiveness of a Peer Mediation Program and Sibley Elementary School in Albert Lea, Mn. Data analysis was limited by the small sample size and lack of comparison; however, findings did …

Evidence Or Assertions? The Outcomes Of Family Preservation Services, Julia H. Littell

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

No abstract provided.

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 22, No. 2 (June 1995)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• FEMINIZATION OF THE AIDS EPIDEMIC - Mark S. Kaplan
• LIFE STORIES: A PRACTICE-BASED RESEARCH TECHNIQUE - Rena D. Harold, Margaret L. Palmiter, Susan A. Lynch and Carol R. Freedman-Doan
• ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER AND CASE MANAGEMENT: INFUSING MACRO SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE - Dennis D. Long
• THE IDEOLOGICAL CONTEXT OF CHANGING JUVENILE JUSTICE - Preston Elrod and Daryl Kelley
• PROTECTING WOMEN'S JOBS: UNIONS AND DEINDUSTRIALIZATION - Marietta Morrissey
• FAMILY CORRELATES OF DELINQUENCY: COHESION AND ADAPTABILITY - Glenn Shields and Richard D. Clark
• SECOND-ORDER VICTIM-BLAMING - Paula L. Dressel, Vincent Carter, and Anand Balachandran

BOOK REVIEW ESSAY

• Unfaithful Angels: How …

Feminization Of The Aids Epidemic, Mark S. Kaplan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Although males still constitute a substantial number of persons with AIDS, it is becoming clear that this is a disease affecting women and minority populations more adversely. Today women, while representing approximately 16 percent of all AIDS cases nationwide that are reported to the Centers for Disease Control, make up the fastest-growing segment of the population with AIDS. This article contends that AIDS is increasingly afflicting women who have little economic, political, or social power. Furthermore, misdirected public policy has been partly responsible for the greater incidence of the disease in certain regions and populations.

The Process Of Implementing An Un-Doing Racism Through Inclusiveness Plan: A Case Study, Megan C. Toal

Theses and Graduate Projects

The United Way of Minneapolis has recently required all funded agencies to develop a plan to become more racially inclusive. The plan addresses five areas: governance, human resources, programming, administration, and community contacts. The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of what the process of implementing an inclusiveness project looked like in one metropolitan social service agency, Theoretical and conceptual frameworks were derived from literature on organizational behavior, in addition to research on the history of exclusionary and differential practices in social work towards people of color.

Individual interviews, focus groups, and written documentation of the process …

School Social Workers' Perceptions Of Their Role In Preventing And Eliminating Discrimination Toward Gay, Lesbian And Bisexual Students, Jennifer E. Corniea

Theses and Graduate Projects

The purpose of this research was to explore school social workers' perceptions of their role in advocating for and providing services to gay, lesbian and bisexual students. The focus of the research was on Minnesota school social workers who were working in a school(s) which served any grade between sixth and twelfth. The research design included both qualitative and quantitative methods. A survey was developed and distributed to 250 school social workers in Minnesota. Ninety-eight of those who were eligible for the research elected to participate. Findings indicate that school social workers assume a variety of roles within the school …

Native American Agencies For Native American Children: Fulfilling The Promise Of The Indian Child Welfare Act, Anthony Mcmahon, Ernest N. Gullerud

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The Indian Child Welfare Act seeks to protect Indian children from family and cultural disruption. The Act mandates minimum standards for the removal of Indian children and for their placement in foster care. However, a recent national survey suggests that requirements for Indian foster homes are not being met in public agency substitute care programs. At the same time, Native American child welfare agencies have developed a range of services for Native American children. The authors show that the intent of the Act will be better served if the case management of Native American children in public agency care is …

A Synthesis Of Research On Family Preservation And Family Reunification Programs, Julia H. Littell, John R. Schuerman

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

How effective are current efforts to preserve and reunify families in child welfare? In this paper we review research on programs aimed at preventing out-of-home placement of children, broader family preservation programs, and programs designed to reunify families with children in foster care.1 We examine what is known about the outcomes of these programs, relationships between service characteristics and outcomes, and the response of subgroups of clients to services.

Claims that family preservation programs result in substantial reductions in the placement of children are based largely on non-experimental studies. Such studies do not provide solid evidence of program effects. Evidence …

Problems And Prospects In Society's Response To Abuse And Neglect, John R. Schuerman, Julia H. Littell

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

This paper presents an analysis of the current situation in child welfare–the explosion of foster care caseloads, the proliferation of family preservation programs, and the principles underlying these approaches–and suggests new ways of thinking about reform of the child welfare system.

We begin with a review of the increase in out-of-home care. We then tum to an analysis of the three basic principles underlying the current child welfare system: permanency, least restrictive alternative, and reasonable efforts. We devote a major part of the paper to the family preservation programs that embody these principles. We describe what we perceive to be …

A Study Of Clinical Social Workers' Recognition And Use Of Countertransference With Adult Borderline Clients, Fred R. Mckenzie

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Services For Homeless Youth: A Needs Assessment And Program Design, Noya J. Woodrich

Theses and Graduate Projects

Homelessness among youth is a problem that is growing in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area. The purpose of this study was to examine the services currently available for this population and to assess whether or not they are sufficient enough to serve the population of young homeless adults. Research for the study was done by looking at existing records such as studies done by the Minnesota Department of Education, and the Minnesota Department of Education. A local study done by the Wilder Research Center on homeless youth and a program evaluation done by the Bridge Inc., was also used to …

Minnesota Youth In Care: Voices Of Wisdom, Michelle L. Chalmers

Theses and Graduate Projects

Adolescents currently make up the largest proportion of young people entering substitute care in the state of Minnesota. In this exploratory project, eleven young adults with a history of out of home placement in two Minnesota counties were interviewed. Participants shared their perceptions on the degree of influence they feel they had when decisions regarding their placements were made. They provided "advice" for youth currently entering the system and for practitioners working with adolescents in care. A review of the literature exploring the relationship between empowerment theories and youth participation in service provision provides a foundation for the study. Literature …

Evaluating Head Start: An Historical Review Of Program Goals And Factors Which Impact Program Evaluation, Violet M. Finkelson

Theses and Graduate Projects

This exploratory historical study researches the Head Start program goals and performance standards from the original task force and President Johnson's declaration of the war on poverty, to the present day. The historical research on the Head Start program is presented by decade adjacent to historical information about child development and early childhood education, and the political climate of that decade. The study will examine major Head Start program evaluations which occurred during each of the past three decades and discuss historical factors which may have impacted the research designs. The ultimate goal of this project is to learn from …

Exploration Of Program Impact On Adolescent Girls Residing In A Group Home, Leonlida Bernice Machado

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 20, No. 3 (September 1993)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

SPECIAL ISSUE: FOCUS ON FAMILY ISSUES

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• FAMILY PRESERVATION: A PROFESSIONAL REFORM MOVEMENT - Marc Mannes
• DOUBLING UP: LOW INCOME HOUSEHOLDS SHELTERING THE HIDDEN HOMELESS - Edward F. Vacha and Marguerite V. Marin
• HOMELESSNESS: THE SERVICE PROVIDERS’ PERSPECTIVE ON BLAMING THE VICTIM - Elizabeth Tracy and Randy Stoecker
• WOMEN OFFENDERS INCARCERATED AT THE OHIO PENITENTIARY FOR MEN AND THE OHIO REFORMATORY FOR WOMEN FROM 1913-1923 - Rudolph Alexander, Jr., Lola Butler, and Patricia Sias
• UPPER MIDDLE CLASS SUPPORT FOR THE IDEA OF FAMILY ALLOWANCES - Beth Spenciner Rosenthal
• PUBLIC POLICY AND THE ENERGY NEEDS OF LOW INCOME FAMILIES …

Family Preservation: A Professional Reform Movement, Marc Mannes

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Family Preservation is examined as a manifestation of collective professional activity intent on reforming various aspects of the social welfare system. George Smelser's theoretical framework is used to analyze and interpret the emergence and development of the Family Preservation Movement. The article identifies societal problems which spawned the movement, the formation of a shared belief system, and the confirmation and sanctioning of those beliefs. Factors which mobilized increasing numbers of professionals to the cause, efforts which reflect collective action, and the conventionalization and standardization of the movement are discussed.

Book Notes

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

BOOK NOTES

• The Study of Welfare State Regimes. Jon Eivind Kolberg (Ed).
• Between Work and Social Citizenship. Jon Eivind Kolberg (Ed).
• The Welfare State as Employer. Jon Eivind Kolberg (Ed).
• Social Policy and Social Security in Australia, Britain and the USA. Helen Bolderson and Deborah Mabbet.
• Political Economy of Development: Development Theory and the Prospect for Change in the Third World. Burch Berberoglu.
• Social Policy in a Changing Europe. Z. Ferge and J. Kolberg (Eds).
• Arguing about the Welfare State: The Australian Experience. Peter Beilharz, Mark Considine and Rob Watts.

A Longitudinal Study Of A Family Maintenance Program, Carl Bailey, Ana C. Hurd, Tina Tanguay-Hill

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

Five Year Cohort Study Of Homeless Families: A Joint Policy Research Venture, John J. Stretch, Larry W. Kreuger

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Over the past ten years there have been significant investments in families uprooted by homelessness, but no data which clearly delineated what types of families had been helped, and how long help may have sustained them. Reported are preliminary data on 875 families who resided in a 60 day family shelter from 1983 through 1987. Field interviews in 1989 with 201 of those families provide data on residential history, employment, familial and demographic changes, service needs and additional homeless episodes. Policy questions focus on current residential stability and community reintegration.

Women And Homelessness: Evidence Of Need To Look Beyond Shelters To Long Term Social Service Assistance And Permanent Housing, Elizabeth Huttman, Sonjia Redmond

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Based on two surveys of staff in 25 homeless shelters in the San Francisco Bay area, this study focuses on services to homeless women and their children. Both the advantages and disadvantages of shelter living are discussed, as well as obstacles to moving homeless women and their children into permanent housing. The survey finds that there is a need for rapid movement out of the shelters and a concomitant need for long term social services.

Ideology. Public Policy And Homeless Families, Padmini Gulati

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper was originally presented at the session of Ad hoc Committee on Housing and the Built Environment of the World Congress of Sociology held in Madrid. July 1990.

The Use Of Volunteers By Governmental Social Services In Israel, Ram A. Cnaan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article studies an important aspect of coprovision in social service agencies. It focuses on how social welfare departments utilize the resources of volunteers. An indepth study of 14 Local Departments of Social Service (LDSS) in Israel identifies several issues regarding the use of volunteers that have theoretical and practical implications not only for social services but also for other government service organizations engaged in coprovision.

Health Implications Of Homelessness: Reports From Three Countries, Gerald Daly

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper discusses the health implications of homelessness in the context of problems discovered and remedies proposed in three countries: Britain, Canada, and the United States. The findings, particularly with respect to programmatic responses, are selective. Based upon personal observation over the past four years, they are intended, however, to offer a glimpse at the range of projects which have evolved in the three countries during the eighties.

Counseling Troubled Adolescents: An Evaluation Of A Statewide Training Program, Susanne Mitchell, Anne White, Wynn S. Wright, Peter J. Pecora

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Susanne Mitchell was a graduate student at the School of Social Work, University of Utah. Anne White, M.S.W, is a staff social worker at the Diabetes Health Center, Salt Lake City, Utah. Wynn S. Wright, M.S.W., was the Project Coordinator of the Utah Child Welfare Training Project, Graduate School of Social Work, University of Utah; and currently is psychiatric social worker at Primary Children's Medical Center, Salt Lake City, Utah. Peter 1. Pecora, Ph.D., is Associate Professor and Principal Investigator of the Child Welfare Training Project at the Graduate School of Social Work, University of Utah. The research for this …

Not For Poverty Alone: Foster Care Population Trends In The Twentieth Century, Leroy H. Pelton

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Trends in the size of the national foster care population from 1910 to 1983 are examined in the context of child welfare policy toward dependent and neglected children. Several major turning points in the child placement rate are identified, and the reasons for them are explored. The relationship between poverty and foster care placement is discussed, and it is concluded that the child placement rate is not related to the poverty rate, but rather, to how our society chooses to intervene with the children of families living in poverty.

Focal Point, Volume 01 Number 02, Portland State University. Regional Research Institute

Research and Training Center - Focal Point

This issue of Focal Point features the Families as Allies Project, which is designed to promote collaboration between families of children with emotional handicaps and the professionals who serve them. Project objectives include conducting relevant research, developing training curricula and other written materials, and designing and presenting workshops and other training events.

Included in this issue is a report about an April, 1986 conference held in Portland that involved equal numbers of parents and professionals from thirteen western states. This meeting was one of the first public explorations of our project concepts, and we were very gratified by the positive …

Focal Point, Volume 01 Number 01, Portland State University. Regional Research Institute

Research and Training Center - Focal Point

This is the first issue of a bulletin published by the Portland State University Research and Training Center to Improve Services for Seriously Emotionally Handicapped Children and Their Families.

The specific thrust of this initial publication is to introduce you to the center and its primary activities. There are three major center projects: Families as Allies, Youth in Transition and Therapeutic Case Advocacy. Each of these projects is described in separate articles in this issue of the newsletter. In addition, we have a lead article by Thomas Young titled "Re-Thinking Emotional Disturbances in Children." This article should be thought provoking …

Revival Of Welfare Reform, Seung Ja Doe

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

It is a well known fact that poverty is prevalent among single mothers and children. Currently, the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program fails to provide for all children and single mothers in need of public assistance. Previous attempts to "reform" the welfare system have been unsuccessful. However, in the time when the poor's right for social welfare is increasingly threatened, ideas for welfare reform need to be revived. The author advocates for a threedimensional agenda for welfare reform: universal assistance to families with children, reinforced support for children with absent parents, and targeted employment programs for single …