Digital Commons Network^™

Blue Chairs And Broken Minds: The Troubled Teen Industry’S Legacy Of Abuse, Macie Barker '25

Honor Scholar Theses

The Troubled Teen Industry (TTI) operates under the veil of rehabilitating adolescents with behavioral challenges. However, evidence reveals a system rife with abuse, manipulation, and inadequate oversight. From the infamous blue chairs of Straight, Inc., to the isolation tactics of WWASP program, this industry has maintained a facade of treatment while subjecting youth to severe abuse. This paper explores the history, recruitment tactics, institutional failures, survivor recovery journeys, and legal battles that define the TTI. Advocacy movements, including Breaking Code Silence and WWASP Survivors, have emerged to combat industry malpractice and push for policy changes to protect vulnerable youth. Additionally, …

Inciting Action By Analyzing Pachirat, Rhi N. Soto

Amplify: A Journal of Writing-as-Activism

The book Every Twelve Seconds: Industrialized Slaughter and the Politics of Sight by Timothy Pachirat explores “the politics of sight”, or the intentional invisibilizing or transparentizing of repugnant acts in order to encourage or limit them, through the case study of a beef slaughter house in Omaha, NE. While also utilizing the politics of sight, Pachirat hopes for great political and social change concerning the immoral acts that happen at meat plants through a radical act of transparency: a narrative ethnography. Writers with similar goals of great change in social and political issues can make use of Pachirat’s techniques, which …

Actions Speak Louder Than Words: Public Perceptions Of Victim Forgiveness And Offender Reparative Effort, Samantha Does

Bridges: An Undergraduate Journal of Contemporary Connections

Passing judgment is an inevitable aspect of human behaviour, particularly in cases of severe wrongdoing or crime. These assessments can affect the individuals implicated in the transgressions, including the victim and offender. This research enhances our understanding of how third parties judge offenders and victims of crime, exploring whether offender participation in rehabilitation, offender remorsefulness, and the victim's forgiveness following a crime influence the third party's judgement of the victim and offender. Participants were presented with a scenario depicting a significant transgression, after which they responded to prompts concerning their perceptions of the event and the people involved. The findings …

Burnout Among Social Workers In Integrated Care, Kyle Mcgee

Social Work Doctoral Dissertations

Burnout has a negative and pervasive impact on individual workers, employee groups, and organizations. At the organizational level, role conflict and role ambiguity in human service settings have consistently been associated with burnout (Fraser et al., 2018; Jackson et al., 1986, Maslach, 1993, & O’Connor et al., 2018; Thomas et al., 2014). The theoretical orientations which underpin burnout are schema theory, causal attribution theory, and the situational model of illness, while classical organizational theory and role theory provide justification for the inclusion of role conflict and role ambiguity factors and their association with burnout. While role conflict and role ambiguity …

"I Know Who I Am": Draw-And-Tell Conversations With Gender-Creative Children, Eline Leemans Lenne

Dissertations and Theses

A growing number of children identify in various gender-creative ways, likely due to broader social awareness and affirmation of transgenderism. Gender-creative children face higher risks for adverse social, academic, mental health, and healthcare outcomes compared to non-transgender peers. Support from loved ones along with guidance from pediatric providers can mitigate poor outcomes and ensure that gender-creative children live healthy and happy lives. Young gender-creative children's perspectives about the aforementioned topics are markedly absent from the literature, which instead highlights adolescent and adult proxy perspectives.

In this participatory arts-based study anchored by a constructivist epistemology and informed by post-structuralist, queer, and …

Exploring The Impact Of Social Media And Social Networks On Juvenile Sexual Behavior Problems: A Scoping Review, Shaleen Clay

LSU Master's Theses

The issue of juvenile problematic sexual behavior has become a pervasive problem, and little research exists on the topic. How social media and social networks impact problematic sexual behaviors in juveniles is even less known and understood. The objective of this scoping review was to determine what is known about the impact of social media and social networks on juvenile sexual behavior problems. Four key themes appeared in the literature including the use of adult terminology, rather than juvenile, to describe juvenile relationships; the normalization of abusive behaviors within adolescent relationship; the influence of social networks/peer groups on aggression and …

“They Love Our Rhythm, But Not Our Blues:” An Examination Of The Relationship Between Hip Hop On Depression, Anxiety, And Self-Care Among African American And Hispanic/Latinx Emerging Adults, Richard W. Wiley Jr.

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Depression and anxiety are among the most common mental health problems for emerging adults of color in higher education. Specifically, African American/Black and Hispanic/Latinx emerging adults on college campuses have poorer mental health than their White counterparts. Considering the systemic oppression and cultural stressors that impact mental health among African American/Black and Hispanic/Latinx students, Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Emerging Adulthood Theory were theoretical frameworks for this study. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between Hip Hop music and depression, anxiety, and intentional use as self-care among African American/Black and Hispanic/Latinx emerging adults who were college …

The Influence Of Life Skills, Teammate And Coach Behavior, And The Sport Environment On The Mental Well-Being Of Intercollegiate Athletes, Lauren A. Shute

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Abstract

Intercollegiate athletics generate significant interest in the United States, where concerns about the health and well-being of student-athletes have gained increased attention in recent years. Student-athletes face the same developmental challenges as their non-athlete college peers, but they also encounter biological, psychological, sociocultural, and spiritual challenges often introduced or exacerbated by their participation in sport. To assist this subgroup of the college student population in managing their various athletic, academic, and personal responsibilities, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has prioritized and implemented life skills programming. Yet, while much has been documented regarding life skills development at the youth …

Testimonios Of Antiracist School Social Workers: Advancing Professional Equity And Updating The School Social Work Model, Leticia Villarreal Sosa, Christy Mccoy, Laurel E. Thompson, Stephanie Ochocki

School of Social Work Faculty Publications

During a modern era of rising white nationalism and racial reckoning, the opportunity to reimagine the national model for school social work practice was explored in partnership with practitioners, scholars, researchers, and leaders of the profession. It sparked a parallel process of engagement that required the critical analysis of the systemic and structural racism impacting not only our educational communities, but also the historical influences shaping the school social work profession. Like the many antiracist efforts that have come before, the revision process was impacted by a pervasive culture of white supremacy, yet what emerged was an equity-centered model to …

Engagement In Generalist Social Work Practice: Exploring Conceptual Theory And Textbook Pedagogy, Alice C. Fischer

Social Work Doctoral Dissertations

Social work has a distinctive orientation to engagement that sets it apart from other helping professions. Engagement occurs both at the beginning and throughout every stage of social work practice with client systems. Despite its inherent and almost synonymous nature with social work practice, the profession has found it challenging to establish a theoretical conceptualization of engagement in social work or a definition of engagement in social work.

This study explored existing literature to establish a construct of engagement and a description of its underlying concepts, variables, and attributes. The construct informed the development of a methodology for comparing how …

Hubungan Dukungan Sosial Rekan Kerja Dengan Stres Kerja (Studi Pada Pekerja Di Pt X), Aisyah Permatasari

Jurnal Ilmu Kesejahteraan Sosial

Workers are vulnerable to work-related stress due to job demands, time constraints, and limited leisure time, leading to psychological issues such as anxiety related to their work. In the context of social welfare studies, job stress affects overall workers’ well-being and disrupts their social functioning in the workplace. Social support from coworkers is potentially reduce stress in workplace, which is crucial for creating organizational well-being. It also helps workers improve job engagement, cope with fatigue, and manage stress. This study examined the relationship between social support from coworkers and job stress among 90 employees …

Caring Across Borders: Demographic Shifts And Migrant Care In Asean-Korea Dynamics, Saqib Fardan Ahmada, Wahid Nur Kartiko

Jurnal Ilmu Kesejahteraan Sosial

This article aims to examine the migration policies and migrant care in the context of relations between ASEAN Member States (AMS) and Korea. As Korea is dealing with an aging population, an increase in female labour force participation, and an ultra low fertility rate, caregiving, especially for the elderly, has become a pivotal issue. Besides, the traditional nuclear family structure, which has historically served as the primary caregiver for the elderly, is also losing its prominence. In such demographic shift, migrant care workers from AMS are filling the demand for caregiving in Korea, leading to a cross-border international migration from …

A Phenomenological Study Of Licensed Social Workers’ Conceptualization Of Shame In Adolescents With Substance Use Disorders, Brent A. Basile

Social Work Doctoral Dissertations

Shame is a self-conscious emotion that has been referred to as both a master and a hidden emotion. Sociological and psychological researchers have neglected shame, although it has seen a resurgence in the past 20 years as a topic for research. Shame heightens during adolescence, a transitional period that bridges childhood and adulthood and involves psychological, social, physiological, and neurobiological changes. Adolescent substance use leads to academic, health and mental health, peer, and family difficulties. Additionally, adolescent substance use is associated with the leading causes of death, including suicide, unintended injury, and violence. Adolescent substance use disorders impact the individual, …

Intimate Partner Violence In Post-Conflict Communities: The Case Of Peru, Karen Eliana León Negreiros

Theses and Dissertations

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a major public health issue worldwide and the most common type of violence experienced by women. In the last decade, a growing number of studies have evidenced that situations of civil conflict, post-conflict, and displacement can significantly exacerbate IPV and increase the likelihood of experiencing IPV later in life. This study expands on the literature by taking a Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping approach to understand how civil conflict violence in Peru (1980-2000) is associated with IPV rates in the country, 4 years (2004) and 19 years (2019) after the conflict. Study results evidence the …

Child-Caregiver Relational Closeness And Child Mental Health In Nonparental Care Settings, Amanda Stafford Mcrell

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines child-caregiver relational closeness and child mental health within nonparental care systems in Low- and Middle-Income countries (LMICs). Five key factors impacting the well-being of orphaned, separated, and vulnerable children in LMICs are explored using the Positive Outcomes for Orphans (POFO) dataset: child maltreatment, social support, child-caregiver relationships, and nonparental care systems. First, I examined the relationship between maltreatment, social support, and mental well-being. Findings showed that maltreatment was associated with lower mental well-being, where social support (emotional support, tangible support, positive social support) was associated with greater mental well-being, even in the concurrent presence of maltreatment. Second, …

Eliciting Patient Past Experiences Of Healthcare Discrimination As A Potential Pathway To Reduce Health Disparities: A Qualitative Study Of Primary Care Staff, Dharma E. Cortés, Ana M. Progovac, Frederick Lu, Esther Lee, Nathaniel M. Tran, Margo A. Moyer, Varshini Odayar, Caryn R.R. Rodgers, Leslie Adams, Valeria Chambers, Jonathan Delman, Deborah Delman, Selma De Castro, María José Sánchez Román, Natasha A. Kaushal, Timothy B. Creedon, Rajan A. Sonik, Catherine Rodriguez Quinerly, Ora Nakash, Et Al

School for Social Work: Faculty Publications

Objective

To understand whether and how primary care providers and staff elicit patients' past experiences of healthcare discrimination when providing care.

Data Sources/Study Setting

Twenty qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with healthcare staff in primary care roles to inform future interventions to integrate data about past experiences of healthcare discrimination into clinical care.

Study Design

Qualitative study.

Data Collection/Extraction Methods

Data were collected via semi-structured qualitative interviews between December 2018 and January 2019, with health care staff in primary care roles at a hospital-based clinic within an urban safety-net health system that serves a patient population with significant racial, ethnic, …

Social Workers Impact On Behavioral Health Patients In The Emergency Department, Hannah Grumbein

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The emergency department is designed to treat emergency medical conditions, stabilize the patients, and transition them to the next appropriate level of care. The social issue that prompted the search in current literature is increased readmissions to the emergency department for many at-risk populations, including mental health patients. The research problem addressed through this quantitative study was the increasing readmission rates in emergency departments for the mental health population for non-emergent needs. The purpose of the study was to determine whether having social work involvement with adult mental health patients in the emergency department would lead to more services at …

Grief Into Growth: Msw Portfolio, Shelby Ann Lampi

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Dei From The Perspective Of Racially And Sexually Minority Social Work Students, Ilse Ivonne Trejo, Miguel Gabino Lopez, Annette Clarke Jones, Octavio Ramirez

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

This explanatory sequential mixed-method research study examined the experiences and perspectives of racially and sexually minority social work students enrolled at Fort Hays State University. By integrating both quantitative and qualitative approaches, the study aimed to uncover the unique challenges these students face, such as feelings of belonging, microaggressions, and a lack of culturally competent mentorship. It also highlighted resilience strategies and institutional supports that contribute to their academic and personal success. The findings offer valuable insights for social work educators and administrators seeking to foster more inclusive and supportive environments for minority and sexual students in rural PWIs.

Managing The Cost Of Services For People With Disabilities: International Approach. Part Ii: Ohio, United States, Dana Pugh, Jaroslaw Richard Romaniuk

Faculty Scholarship

Introduction: Four years of managing a housing network for people with disabilities prompted a rethinking of the financial management of the services offered. Clients with different needs require diverse professional staff for their home care. Emergency situations require that professionals offering assistance maintain the highest level of education possible. Financial resources often limit the quality of care for people with disabilities. Method: This paper is based on a literature search and on professional experience (Dana Pugh) in the management of a housing program for people with disabilities in Cleveland, Ohio (USA). Findings: In Poland, people with disabilities usually live with …

Adverse Childhood Experiences And High School Dropout: The Roles Of Student Disengagement And Social Support, Rachel D. Pounders

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

More than two million students a year leave high school without a completion credential (NCES, 2024). Students who drop out are at-risk for detrimental long-term outcomes physically, mentally and economically (Rumberger, 2020). Students with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are significantly more likely to have poor educational outcomes, including school dropout (Metzler et al., 2017; Pan et al., 2019). However, there is limited insight into what affects the pathway between ACEs and poor educational outcomes for students (Dupéré et al., 2019; Morrow & Villodas, 2018). Informed by prominent dropout theories with ecological foundations and the theory of stress and coping, this …

Disrupting The Abuse-Prison Nexus: The Gendered Violence Of Prosecution And Abolitionist Feminist Approaches To Social Care Work, Sid P. Jordan, Emily Thuma, Aylaliyah Assefa Birru, Deirdre Wilson, Romarilyn Ralston, Norma Cumpian, Joseph Hankins

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

The vast majority of people in U.S. women’s prisons are survivors of interpersonal violence, a pattern that organizers and advocates have referred to as the abuse-to-prison pipeline. This article critically examines criminal prosecution from the perspectives of survivors of interpersonal violence who faced long prison sentences in California. In-depth interviews and group discussions were generated through a participatory process at a gathering to launch the University of California Sentencing Project, a partnership with the community-based organization California Coalition for Women Prisoners. The twenty-two formerly incarcerated participants had collectively spent more than 300 years imprisoned. Drawing on their lived experiences spanning …

Unveiling The Multidimensional Impact Of Sex Trafficking: Insights From Survivors, Claudia G. Interiano-Shiverdecker, Devon E. Romero, John J. S. Harrichand, Jessica Martin, David J. Thompson

Trauma Counseling and Resilience

This transcendental phenomenological study delves into the lived experiences of 10 women who experienced sex trafficking. Through in-depth individual interviews, participants unveiled a narrative marked by coercion, manipulation, and multifaceted abuse. Despite variations in the duration and onset of their ordeals, participants uniformly expressed the profound and lasting impact of sex trafficking across numerous facets of their lives. Psychological distress, physical ailments, disrupted vocational trajectories, strained relationships, and spiritual upheaval were recurrent themes, illustrating the pervasive nature of their trauma. This research highlights the urgent necessity for holistic support and intervention strategies tailored to the intricate and multidimensional needs of …

Community-Oriented Policing In A Majority-Black Neighborhood: In Search Of A Local Solution To A National Problem, Nasaskyia R. Hicks, Shanada Mcfadden, Natallia Sianko

Transforming Communities

Few issues loom larger today than how the United States can rehabilitate its criminal justice system. Although justified and undoubtedly timely, the national focus often shifts attention away from local, interpersonal, and community processes that shape how criminal justice is administered and experienced differently in communities across the country. Our goal is to contribute to the national conversation on community-oriented policing and social innovation to improve police-community relations and increase public trust in majority-Black neighborhoods. This article offers a call to action for the scientific and policy communities to reflect on effective practices that bring the voices of local stakeholders …

A Qualitative Approach To Identifying Obstacles To Mental Healthcare In The Rio Grande Valley From The Perspective Of Mental Healthcare Professionals., Shania M. Linder, Cristian Botello, Raquel Villarreal, Nelda Rodriguez, Mario Gil, Dayana Zamora

Research Symposium

Background: There are many factors that prevent members of the Hispanic/Latino community from accessing mental health resources. This is important to investigate because there is a lack of knowledge on why residents of the Rio Grande Valley, an underserved region of South Texas, are unable to access and/or utilize mental health resources.

Methods: A focus group session was held at a mental health counseling clinic in Cameron County, Texas on February 1, 2024. The participants consisted of mental health professionals, such as two mental health clinicians, a clinical counselor, two school counselors, a licensed professional counselor supervisor, and a …

Adult Sexual Grooming: A Systematic Review, Christin Aletky, Bonita Sharma, Jose Carbajal, Tia Eubank

Journal of Social Work in the Global Community

Grooming is the manipulation and intimidation of people into acts that may appear consensual but are in fact exploitative and harmful, activities they would not have chosen otherwise. Different legal definitions and shifting social perspectives on consent complicate efforts to determine whether a given behavior is a result of informed consent or a response to grooming behaviors. Most studies on grooming and sexual assault focus on adults grooming and abusing children—research on adults grooming other adults is scarce. Therefore, the purpose of our study is to conduct a systematic review of current research on the grooming of adults. We used …

Explaining The Variance In Cardiovascular Health Indicators Among Asian Americans: A Comparison Of Demographic, Socioeconomic, And Ethnicity, Lalaine Sevillano, Adrian Matias Bacong, Dale Dagar Maglalang

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

BACKGROUND

The Asian American (AA) population is the fastest-growing major racial or ethnic group in the U.S. Typically treated as a monolith in research, disaggregated data show disproportionate cardiovascular disease (CVD) burden among certain AA ethnic groups. This analysis aimed to identify which factors explain variance in cardiovascular health among AA ethnic groups.

METHODS

We analyzed pooled 2010-2018 National Health Interview Survey cross-sectional data from Chinese, Asian Indian, Filipino, and Other Asian adults in the U.S. Coronary heart disease, heart attack, and stroke were the CVD outcomes of interest. Covariates included sociodemographic characteristics, CVD-related health behaviors (e.g., smoking tobacco, physical …

Women Residential Substance Use Treatment Program: A Quantitative Study Measuring Treatment Perceptions And Spiritual Experience Across Multiple Demographics., Michelle Davidson

Doctor of Social Work Capstone Projects

ABSTRACT

WOMEN RESIDENTIAL SUBSTANCE USE TREATMENT PROGRAM: A QUANTITATIVE STUDY MEASURING TREATMENT PERCEPTIONS AND SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE ACROSS MULTIPLE DEMOGRAPHICS

Michelle Davidson, LCSW

March 24, 2025

Substance use disorders (SUD) present complex challenges that necessitate comprehensive and personalized treatment approaches, particularly for women. Historically, SUD treatments have been predominantly driven by male treatment approaches, often neglecting the unique needs and experiences of women. This cross-sectional quantitative survey study explores the relationship between the variables of client treatment perceptions and spiritual experiences among women in residential treatment for their SUDs. This study utilizes the Treatment Perception Survey and Spiritual Experience Index-Revised to …

Age Discrimination And Depression Among Older Adults In South Korea: Moderating Effects Of Exercise, Hyun Kang, Emily S. Ihara

Department of Social Work - Faculty Scholarship

Background

Poder Familiar: A Culturally Tailored Health Intervention For Latino Families Of Children With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities, Amy Pei-Lung Yu, Yolanda Suarez-Balcazar, Vanessa L. Errisuriz, Deborah Parra-Medina, Mansha Mirza, Minyu Zhang, Pei-Chiang Lee, Weiwen Zeng, Jasmine P. Brown-Hollie, Nazanin M. Heydarian

School of Social Work Faculty Publications

Background: This two-site pilot study examined the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary outcomes of PODER Familiar, a culturally tailored intervention to promote the health and well-being of Latina family caregivers and their children with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Method: Using the Promotora de Salud model and mixed-methods design, we co-developed PODER Familiar with Latina caregivers of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities and community stakeholders. Thirty Latina caregivers and their children with disabilities were recruited to participate in the intervention, which included 10 individual sessions and 3 group sessions.

Results: Twenty-six Latina caregivers completed all 10 individual sessions, with high intervention …