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Virginia Commonwealth University Undergraduate Bulletin [2015], Virginia Commonwealth University

VCU Bulletins

Undergraduate bulletin for Virginia Commonwealth University for the academic year 2015-2016. It includes information on academic regulations, degree requirements, course offerings, faculty, academic calendar, and tuition and expenses for undergraduate programs.

Virginia Commonwealth University Graduate Bulletin [2015], Virginia Commonwealth University

VCU Bulletins

No abstract provided.

Children's Experiences Of Companion Animal Maltreatment In Households Characterized By Intimate Partner Violence, Shelby Elaine Mcdonald, Elizabeth A. Collins, Nicole Nicotera, Tina O. Hageman, Frank R. Ascione, James Herbert Williams, Sandra A. Graham-Bermann

Social Work Publications

Cruelty toward companion animals is a well-documented, coercive tactic used by abusive partners to intimidate and control their intimate partners. Experiences of co-occurring violence are common for children living in families with intimate partner violence (IPV) and surveys show that more than half are also exposed to abuse of their pets. Given children's relationships with their pets, witnessing such abuse may be traumatic for them. Yet little is known about the prevalence and significance of this issue for children. The present study examines the experiences of children in families with co-occurring pet abuse and IPV. Using qualitative methods, 58 children …

Retention And Mentoring (Ram) Initiative, Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute, Virginia Commonwealth University, Susan Digiovanni, Donna Gibson, Anne Hofler, Florence Johnson, Michael Southam-Gerow, Jenilee Stanley-Shanks

L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs Publications

National and local surveys (e.g., COACHE, 2010; VCU Great Place Initiative, 2013) suggest that a primary reason for workplace dissatisfaction among faculty and staff is lack of adequate mentorship. Evidence also suggests that mentoring programs improve recruitment and retention of underrepresented faculty and staff (e.g., Daley, Wingard, & Reznik, 2006). VCU and VCU Health currently have decentralized and isolated mentoring programs across campuses: a centralized mentoring program accessible to all employees does not exist to address faculty and staff professional development and networking needs. Our project sought to fill this gap. Specifically, we proposed to develop an online database designed …

Virginia Commonwealth University Fall Commencement Program [2015], Virginia Commonwealth University

VCU Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

Virginia Commonwealth University Commencement Program [2015], Virginia Commonwealth University

VCU Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

We Happy Few: Accomplishments In Calendar 2014, Edward F. Ansello

Director's Editorials from Age in Action

The Virginia Center on Aging recognizes strides its staff has made in confronting elder abuse and domestic violence in later life; building and improving lifelong learning opportunities across the Commonwealth for mid-life and older adults; delivering interprofessional geriatrics training for health care providers and measuring the impacts of this training upon the patients they care for; training clinical students to partner across professions to improve geriatrics care; developing and delivering education and training programs to audiences in state, regional, and national conferences and webinars on topics ranging from gerontological education to aging with lifelong disabilities, community health to interdisciplinary teamwork; …

Culture-Centered Approaches: The Relevance Of Assessing Emotional Health For Latinos With Type 2 Diabetes, Jeannie Belinda Concha, Brianna Mezuk, Bonnie Duran

Family Medicine and Population Health Publications

Objective

Within Latino culture, there is a belief that strong emotions can cause diabetes. Because of this belief and evidence regarding the bi-directional relationship between depression and diabetes, the objectives of this study were to determine if medical doctors are asking Latinos with diabetes about emotional problems and to assess attitudes toward professional help for emotional problems.

Research design and methods

Data come from the nationally representative National Latino and Asian American Study and the National Comorbidity Survey Replication study. Only Latino subsamples were included (n=3076). A smaller subsample with complete data (n=2568) was used for the inquiry outcome variable. …

Men And Women From The Stride Clinical Trial: An Assessment Of Stimulant Abstinence Symptom Severity At Residential Treatment Entry, Karen G. Chartier, Katherine Sanchez, Therese K. Killeen, Allison Burrow, Thomas Carmody, Tracy L. Greer, Madhukar H. Trivedi

Social Work Publications

Background and Objectives

Gender‐specific factors associated with stimulant abstinence severity were examined in a stimulant abusing or dependent residential treatment sample (N = 302).

Method

Bivariate statistics tested gender differences in stimulant abstinence symptoms, measured by participant‐reported experiences of early withdrawal. Multivariate linear regression examined gender and other predictors of stimulant abstinence symptom severity.

Results

Women compared to men reported greater stimulant abstinence symptom severity. Anxiety disorders and individual anxiety‐related abstinence symptoms accounted for this difference. African American race/ethnicity was predictive of lower stimulant abstinence severity.

Discussion and Conclusions

Women were more sensitive to anxiety‐related stimulant withdrawal symptoms.

Scientific …

Explaining The Frequency Of Alcohol Consumption In A Conflict Zone: Jews And Palestinians In Israel, Zohar Massey, Karen G. Chartier, Mary B. Stebbins, Daphna Canetti, Stevan E. Hobfoll, Brian J. Hall, Kerem Shuval

Social Work Publications

Experiencing stress and exposure to terrorism may have an adverse effect on health risk behaviors. Few studies have examined alcohol use among adults living in Israel under chronic, stressful terrorism-related conditions. In this study, we examined the relationships of demographics, past stressful events, and terrorism exposure to the frequency of alcohol use and the mediating roles of depressive and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. We used three waves of data from a 2007–2008 nationally representative sample of Jewish and Palestinian adults in Israel. We assessed past stressful events, in addition to direct and indirect exposures to terrorism. Results indicated that …

Developmental Changes In Genetic And Shared Environmental Contributions To Smoking Initiation And Subsequent Smoking Quantity In Adolescence And Young Adulthood, Cristina B. Bares, Kenneth S. Kendler, Hermine H. Maes

Psychiatry Publications

Background

Few studies examining the genetic architecture of cigarette smoking have focused on adolescents or examined developmental changes in additive genetic, shared environment and unique environmental influences on liability to initiate cigarette smoking and quantity of cigarettes smoked. The aim of this study is to add to the literature on liability to initiate and use cigarettes during adolescence using a nationally representative sample.

Method

Data for this study came from adolescent and young adult twin pairs (ages 14-33) from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. We ran a series of developmental causal-contingent-common pathway models to examine whether …

Measuring & Monitoring Impact Of Community Engagement At Virginia Commonwealth University, Valerie Holton, Jennifer Jettner

Division of Community Engagement Resources

This report provides a summary of existing and developing enterprise data mechanisms that track and assess Virginia Commonwealth University’s engagement with our communities. The activities included here are limited to those efforts with which the DCE is actively involved.

The Division of Community Engagement (DCE) undertook this effort and published the original document in fall 2014. This 2015 report has been updated to reflect progress that has been made during the 14-15 academic year.

Collaborative Curiosity: Successful Partnerships In Community-Engaged Research, Valerie Holton

Community-Engaged Research Resources

Presentation from the 2015 Conference on Social Work Education and Community Work at Asia University on March 26, 2015

Better Research Through Community-Engagement, Valerie Holton

Community-Engaged Research Resources

Presentation from the 2015 Conference on Social Work Education and Community Work at National Taiwan University on March 27, 2015

Twenty Years Of Virginia Organizing: A Historical Analysis, Ruth Berta

Graduate Research Posters

Virginia Organizing is a non-profit, non-partisan statewide grassroots community organization aimed at empowering people to affect change in their communities. They celebrated their 20^th anniversary in 2015 and this process evaluation identifies the unique role that the Virginia Organizing State Governing Board has had in governing the organization. It determined the historical themes from this governing body’s 20 years of meeting minutes and assessed its membership diversity over time. In attempting to answer these questions: What themes emerge from the first 20 years of Virginia Organizing State Governing Board meeting minutes? How has the diversity of the membership of …

Helping Students Graduate: An Examination Of The Services Provided By A Dropout Prevention Program, Caren Putzu

Theses and Dissertations

The Alliance for Excellent Education (2011) estimates every 26 seconds in America, a student drops out of school. Numerous intervention and prevention approaches have been implemented to reduce the incidents of school dropout. One program, Communities In Schools (CIS), has shown promise in impacting the issue of school dropout by attending to both academic and non-academic factors at play in influencing a student’s risk for dropping out. The primary aim of this secondary data analysis was to develop an increased understanding of CIS services, to explore whether service provision varies systematically in relation to student outcomes and student characteristics, and …

Is Black Motherhood A Marker Of Oppression Or Empowerment? Hip-Hop And R&B Lessons About "Mama", Cassandra Chaney, Arielle Brown

Journal of Hip Hop Studies

A qualitative content analysis was conducted on the lyrics of 59 songs (40 Hip Hop songs; 17 R&B songs; 2 songs that represented the Hip Hop and R&B genre) from 1961-2013 to identify the ways that Black male and Black female artists described motherhood. The songs were determined by Billboard Chart Research Services, and Black Feminist Theory provided the theoretical foundation on which the themes were identified. Qualitative analysis of the lyrics revealed Black motherhood in R&B and Hip Hop to be based on the following four typologies: (1) Motherhood as Source of Emotional Comfort and Support; (2) Motherhood as …

Assessing Lgbtq Youth Cultural Competency In Direct-Care Behavioral Health Workers: Development And Validation Of A Measure., Megan E. Gandy

Theses and Dissertations

Direct-care workers can provide an array of service types to children, adolescents, and their families in behavioral health treatment. They may also work in a variety of settings (e.g., group homes, inpatient units/hospitals, residential treatment, treatment foster care, day treatment, in-home treatment, etc.). Direct-care workers typically are involved in the supervision of youth and in the implementation of a treatment plan developed by the youth’s treatment team. For youth who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning (LGBTQ) and are receiving behavioral health services, such workers form a critical part of their therapeutic experience. However, …

Journal Of Hip Hop Studies

Journal of Hip Hop Studies

No abstract provided.

Is Black Motherhood A Marker Of Oppression Or Empowerment? Hip-Hop And R&B Lessons About "Mama", Cassandra Chaney, Arielle Brown

Journal of Hip Hop Studies

A qualitative content analysis was conducted on the lyrics of 59 songs (40 Hip Hop songs; 17 R&B songs; 2 songs that represented the Hip Hop and R&B genre) from 1961-2013 to identify the ways that Black male and Black female artists described motherhood. The songs were determined by Billboard Chart Research Services, and Black Feminist Theory provided the theoretical foundation on which the themes were identified. Qualitative analysis of the lyrics revealed Black motherhood in R&B and Hip Hop to be based on the following four typologies: (1) Motherhood as Source of Emotional Comfort and Support; (2) Motherhood as …

Journal Of Hip Hop Studies

Journal of Hip Hop Studies

No abstract provided.

Identifying Differences Between Privatized, Partially Privatized, And Non-Privatized State Foster Care Systems: A Comparative Study Examining Efficiency And Effectiveness, Dorothy C. Coles

Theses and Dissertations

Privatization of the public child welfare system has become increasingly popular since its introduction in the early 1990s. State governments that initiate the privatization of foster care services rationalize the changes with claims of effectiveness and/or increased efficiency of services for children and families. There has been no real focus on identifying what efficiency of the system means for children and their families, nor what aspects of effectiveness focuses on children in foster care. As a result, the unintended consequences of this total restructuring of foster care bureaucracy, through the privatization of the state foster care system – and its …

A National Scan Of Psychiatric Involuntary Hold Policies, Evan D. Peters

UROP Posters

Psychiatric involuntary holds are initiated when an individual suffering from mental illness is deemed a danger to themselves or others. Each state and the District of Columbia has its own legislation outlining the process for involuntary holds and the assessments that take place during a hold. A variety of individuals, professional and non-professional, can be involved in the process. Each state also sets a time limit during which a person can be held, and specific language that details the behavior of individuals that are eligible for psychiatric involuntary holds. This information was gathered by examining each states' codes involving psychiatric …

The Role Of Psychology In Integrated Primary Care For Complex Patients: Effects On Mental Health, Utilization Of Medical Services, And Physiological Markers Of Health, Danielle C. Worthington

Theses and Dissertations

This study served as an initial evaluation of integrated psychology services within a clinic designed to serve uninsured patients with complex medical concerns and high utilization histories at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia. The current study evaluates patient outcomes, and more specifically, it further quantifies and describes the role that psychologists play in the primary care setting and their impact on utilization of medical care and in improved health outcomes. Additionally, the study evaluates psychologists’ success at treating mental and behavioral health conditions within the primary care model. The present study demonstrates that patients with complex medical …

Exploring Dimensions Of Well-Being Among Spouses Of Active-Duty Service Members, Lisa A. Gray

Theses and Dissertations

During an era when the United States has been engaged in the longest waging wars in U.S. history, military families have been exposed to extraordinary amounts of stress and have had to learn to adapt in a culture where repeated deployments, recurrent family separations, and frequent relocations have become the norm. A surge in research in recent years on the families of Service members has brought increased attention to the unique challenges and demands of spouses, raising concerns about how to best meet their needs. Despite the increased attention, few studies have focused on spousal well-being. Acknowledging this lack of …

Measuring Mental Health Provider Stigma: The Development Of A Valid And Reliable Self-Assessment Instrument, Jennifer L.K. Charles

Theses and Dissertations

Provider-based stigma is defined as the negative attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of mental health providers toward clients they serve. Often unintentional and unknowingly conveyed, this phenomenon has been indicated in previous research (e.g. Lauber, Nordt, Braunschweig, & Rössler, 2006; Nordt, Rössler, & Lauber, 2006; Hugo, 2001; Schulze, 2007). Other instruments crafted to measure provider stigma have utilized theory in their development, without incorporating the voice of the client (e.g. Wilkins & Abell, 2010; Kennedy, Abell, & Mennicke 2014). To better address the social injustice posed by provider stigma, the profession requires a valid and reliable measure, guided by theory, which …

Dual Pi3k/Mtor Inhibition With Bez235 Augments The Therapeutic Efficacy Of Doxorubicin In Cancer Without Influencing Cardiac Function, David E. Durrant

Theses and Dissertations

Cancer continues to be a leading cause death in the United States despite improved treatments. Cancerous lesions form after acquiring oncogenic driver mutations or losing tumor suppressor function in normal cells. Traditional therapies have included use of genotoxic substances that take advantage of the increased growth rate and loss of tumor suppressor function to cause cell death. One such drug is the anthracycline antibiotic doxorubicin (DOX). DOX interchelates into DNA and disrupts transcriptional machinery while also poisoning topoisomerase II. This results in single and double stranded DNA breaks, which if severe enough leads to either necrotic or apoptotic cell death. …

The Orphanage Of Things: A Narrative Of Abandonment, Malaz Elgemiabby

Theses and Dissertations

In Sudan, 110 babies are abandoned in the streets of Khartoum every month. The majority of abandoned children are born out of wedlock. Young women with illegitimate pregnancies are often ostracized by their families and society, and the lack of emotional, financial and legal support has led many to take desperate measures, including the abandonment of their children. Relinquishing mothers exist like ghosts in Sudanese society. The only evidence of the mother’s experience is her anonymous, abandoned child. In order to understand and examine this phenomenon, I used ethnographic performance art informed by design research practice (Performative Research Design). I …

Community Collaboration In Virginia Legal Aid Programs: A Constructivist Grounded Theory Investigation, Andrew C. Schoeneman

Theses and Dissertations

Legal aid programs comprise a robust national infrastructure attempting to alleviate and reduce poverty. Since their proliferation as part of the War on Poverty, these organizations have provided individual civil legal assistance and engaged in collective legal and political strategies to advance systemic change. Starting in the 1980s, however, public policies have been enacted to cut funding and restrict the ability of federally funded legal aid programs to engage in collective and systemic advocacy. As a result, the ability of programs to work alongside low-income communities has been compromised. The histories and core commitments of legal aid and social work …

Understanding The Impact Of Leadership And Organizational Culture On Nonprofit Employees’ Commitment And Turnover Intention, Nancy A. Toscano

Theses and Dissertations

Child and family nonprofit organizations are essential for the implementation of United States public policy in their role as service providers. Human service nonprofit organizations held approximately 20,000 government contracts, totaling more than $100 billion in 2009 (Boris, deLeon, Roeger, & Nikolva, 2010). Almost 33,000 human service nonprofit organizations contract with the government to deliver services (Boris, et al., 2010). The services provided by these organizations are critical to the lives of vulnerable American citizens. These organizations depend on committed employees to serve this group, carry out the mission, and reach organizational goals. Employees are nonprofit organizations’ greatest resource, investment, …