Digital Commons Network^™

Arab Refugees With Physical Disabilities: An Exploration Of Barriers Within The Resettlement Process, Qusay S. Hussein Msw, Lailea Noel Phd

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

A series of global crises—the war on terror and its subsequent geopolitical disruptions, climate change, and political and economic instability —have created new waves of refugees, primarily from the Middle East, North Africa, and Latin America. Among these refugees are people with sensory disabilities (PWD). While all refugees require support and encounter challenges to adapting to their resettlement countries, those with physical disabilities face additional barriers to successful resettlement and integration into their resettlement communities. These additional barriers include access to accessibility services for alternative communication methods, orientation and mobility assistance, disability-specific medical support, as well as social support to …

Major Questions About Presidentialism: Untangling The 'Chain Of Dependence' Across Administrative Law, Jodi L. Short, Jed H. Shugerman

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Experience Of Growing Up Deaf In A Hearing-Abled Family: A Phenomenological Study, Alison B. Wetmur

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

d/Deaf Americans constitute a cultural and linguistic minority in America. Most d/Deaf people, 90–95%, are born to hearing-abled parents. By a wide margin, hearing-abled families prefer that their d/Deaf children learn spoken English and enroll their children in oral-education programs. Existing literature must highlight the unique struggles d/Deaf people face when growing up in hearing-abled families. By interviewing 14 d/Deaf adults born into hearing-abled families, this study explored the lived realities of growing up different in ability than other family members. These d/Deaf adults spoke about their childhood feelings of shame and isolation and ongoing frustrations. Respondents also often spoke …

Global Deaf And Disability-Led Partnerships For Accessible Emergency Response And Humanitarian Action, Alina A. Engelman, Joe Booze, Alexia Izquierdo

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Disability-serving non-profit, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) play a critical role in fostering care networks and supporting humanitarian action for disabled people before and during emergencies, particularly in the absence of targeted philanthropic and governmental support. However, relatively few NGOs serving disabled people are led or operated by people with disabilities, especially by disabled women. This analysis, based on survey and interview data with leadership, explores the impact of two disability-led operations. Findings have profound implications for how social work practice can center disability justice both in preparing for and responding to emergencies. This paper assesses the needs and impact of two …

Dismantling Ableism In Social Work Employment: A Call For Disability Justice, Shannon M. Trecartin, Twyla Smith, Terrance P. Trecartin

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This call to action confronts ableist employment practices in the social work profession and emphasizes the core values of the profession, the profession’s call for anti-oppressive and inclusive approaches to justice, and Principles of Disability Justice as avenues to rectify such systemic disparities. Grounded in the lived experiences of the authors, it sheds light on the barriers faced by disabled social workers seeking employment and offers context for understanding both the challenges and opportunities in the field. The authors collectively advocate for reform in social work employment to foster a more inclusive and equitable environment. Drawing on their own experiences, …

Call To Action: Disability Justice As A Framework To End Punishment Of And Advance Liberatory Education For Disabled Students, Jacy Hornsby, Jelena Todic

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The absence of disabled students in higher education, including social work, is a problem not only because of the missed educational opportunities and adverse effect on their earning potential but because disabled people’s knowledge, lived experiences, and skills can enhance social work services, advance innovation in knowledge production, and contribute to transformative organizational and movement leadership. School punishment, including suspensions, expulsions, and arrests, contributes to the absence of disabled people in higher education and begins as early as preschool. However, even for disabled students who graduate from high school and enroll in higher education, punishment continues covertly throughout higher education. …

Anti-Ableist And Disability Justice Pedagogies In Social Work Education, Rose C. B. Singh, Laura Yakas, Laura J. Wernick, Shanna K. Kattari, Elspeth Slayter, Sarah Taylor

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Our personal and collective experiences of ableism and disability brought us together to envision anti-ableist and disability justice pedagogies in social work education. We begin by describing, defining, and reviewing key terminology and concepts, including disability, ableism, and saneism, by drawing on social work and interdisciplinary literature and situating disabled students’ and educators’ experiences in social work education. We provide definitions of anti-ableism and disability justice (e.g., Sins Invalid, 2016, 2019) and a brief overview of how anti-ableism and disability justice have been articulated in social work and related literature. We highlight the broader pedagogical approaches that have inspired our …

Re-Imagining Neoliberal Ideologies In Social Work Education Using Critical Feminist And Disability Theories: A Phenomenological Autoethnographic Account, Stephanie L. Baird, Ami Goulden

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This brief commentary paper provides a phenomenological autoethnographic account of our personal and reflexive experiences of re-imagining dominant neoliberal ideologies in social work education. We draw upon our involvement as instructors of an individual and families social work practice course to illustrate how we problematized and disrupted traditional bio-medicalized and ableist practice approaches by adopting an intersectional crip lens. Our reflections are organized into four areas of consideration: 1) the theorization of an intersectional crip lens, 2) re-envisioning course content and traditional frameworks of practice, 3) examining and disrupting ableism within social work education, and 4) centering the voices of …

Action Steps Toward Dismantling Ableism In Social Work Education, Laura J. Wernick, Rose C. B. Singh, Natasha M. Lee-Johnson, Shanna K. Kattari, Brendon Holloway

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Despite social work’s commitment to social justice, ableism remains rampant among social work programs. Students and faculty often have to fight in order to have their basic accommodations and access needs met, disability is frequently missing from social work education’s discussions of diversity, and it is often implied that disabled people will be our clients, while social workers themselves are non-disabled. There is a glaring gap in our profession when it comes to engaging with and supporting disabled individuals. More than that, basic access is not enough; rather, we must work towards active inclusion and affirmation in order to be …

Diverging From Conventional Autism Research Through Meaningfully Including An Adult Autism Community: Processes Of Engaging Ottawa’S Adult Autism Community In Critical And Emancipatory Autism Research, Margaret Janse Van Rensburg, Courtney Weaver

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Traditional research practices that aim to find causes, cures, and fixes for autism, without meaningful involvement of Autistic individuals, undermine disability justice and the inherent value of the Autistic perspective and Autistic contributions to society. Limited studies address the process of inclusive research and upholding disability justice principles; therefore this paper presents the process of a participatory planning stage for a research study committed to disability justice and social change for Autistic people. Drawing from the principles of disability justice, including intersectionality, leadership, anti-capitalism, cross-movement organizing, and collective liberation, the paper outlines both the successes and obstacles encountered during the …

Historical Trauma And The Disability Community, Susan Neely-Barnes, Melissa Hirschi, Laura Taylor

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The theory of historical trauma has emerged as an important perspective for understanding historically oppressed communities, especially communities racialized as black or brown. The theory has been given relatively little attention in disability studies and in practice with people with disabilities. People with disabilities have experienced historical marginalization, oppression, and genocide and continue to experience oppression today. This paper explores the elements of historical trauma and how they apply to the disability experience. Future research in disability studies and social work should consider the historical trauma perspective. An understanding of historical trauma would tie social work practice more closely with …

Case Rounds Redefined: Multidisciplinary Perspectives In Reflective Practice, Nira Geevargis

Faculty Scholarship

This article describes the rounds process used in clinic and externship seminars and considers how adjustments to the structure can address different needs or goals. The authors draw on teaching methods found in similar professional education programs to identify options for faculty facilitating rounds. Ultimately, the authors use externship rounds to highlight lawyering skills, including developing curiosity, withholding judgment, and generating options. The authors posit that rounds facilitate deeper self-reflection and foster a sense of community by encouraging law students to work collaboratively to consider lessons learned in fieldwork. The rounds structure overview can be assigned to students before class …

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Volume 51, Issue 3 (2024)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

No abstract provided.

Towards Addressing Poverty And Inequality In Nigeria: Rethinking Social Protection Strategies, Olanrewaju O. Ogunnubi

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Poverty and inequality are major issues that fuel agitations and violent conflicts in Nigeria today. Although the Nigerian government continues to implement various social protection strategies, these have not been able to bridge the vast poverty and inequality gap in the country. This study examines social protection programs in Nigeria. It draws out observable challenges in the implementation of these programs and provides recommendations for improving social protection schemes in the country. The study adopts a qualitative historical analysis approach with data obtained from secondary sources. The study reveals that social protection schemes have largely failed to bridge the widening …

Teaching About Black Adolescents’ Exposure To Trauma: A Mixed Methods Study, Bridget E. Weller, Winifred Wilson, Jaimie E. Sullivan, Brittney E. Ivy, Bakari A. Wallace

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Black adolescents are exposed to race-based forms of historical, structural, cultural, and interpersonal dimensions of trauma. However, social work educators have little evidence-based guidance on how to teach this content in a way that improves graduate students’ sense of self-efficacy (i.e., belief in their ability) to work with Black adolescents who experience trauma. The purpose of this sequential mixed methods study was to examine and understand possible reasons for changes in students’ self-efficacy after completing a graduate-level, elective course in social work that aimed to prepare students to professionally work with Black adolescents who experienced trauma. Quantitative findings from a …

Race And Regulatory Equity, Ming Hsu Chen

Faculty Scholarship

This article contemplates the proper role of regulatory agencies in implementing equity orders. More specifically, what is their role with regard to higher education admissions, in the post-SFFA v. Harvard landscape of racial equity?

Disability, Race, And Health Beyond The Carceral State, Benjamin Barsky, Craig Konnoth, Michael A. Stein

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Reproducing Inequality: Racial Capitalism And The Cost Of Public Education, Thalia Gonzalez, Paige Joki

Faculty Scholarship

American democracy is marked by an unwavering deployment of racialized economic modalities of fines, fees, and debt aimed at scaffolding hierarchies of white power and prescribing Black people as commodities, not human beings. Over the last two decades, an expanding praxis in the economic justice field has emerged, opposing and disrupting racialized economic logics within a national anti-fine, fee and cost movement. From scholarly discourse to legal interventions and reforms at city- and county-levels, the movement has sought to target interlocking material and ideological forces that comprise racial capitalist geographies across many criminal and civil systems. Despite this significant work, …

Racial Reckoning And The Police-Free Schools Movement, Thalia Gonzalez, Rebecca Epstein

Faculty Scholarship

Across the country, students of color face daily threats of arrest, exclusion, and violence at the hands of school police officers. Whether deemed threatening, defiant, or hypersexualized, Black students, in particular, pay a heavy price to access their right to free public education. Despite victories in dismantling educational carcerality since the mid-2000s, efforts to formally remove police from public schools has been limited. However, during the 2020 racial reckonings, political opportunity catalyzed social movement campaigns, resulting in the passage of sixty-nine police-free policies. This represented an inflection point for civil rights, education justice, and police abolition scholars and activists. This …

Dance Of The Biologics, Robin Feldman, Gideon Schor

Faculty Scholarship

From COVID-19 vaccines to cancer treatments, biologic medicines are gaining importance in the U.S. health care system. Their high price tags, however, make these medications difficult for many Americans to afford. The Biosimilars Act, enacted in 2010, aimed to reduce costs and increase access to biologic medications by encouraging follow-on competition. The legislative effort followed in the footsteps of its predecessor, the Hatch-Waxman Act of 1984.

Although the Hatch-Waxman system succeeded in creating a landscape of more affordable and widely used generic drugs, the Biosimilars Act has failed to live up to its promise. Biologic drugs in the United States …

Ai And Antitrust: "The Algorithm Made Me Do It", Robin C. Feldman, Caroline A. Yuen

Faculty Scholarship

As the dawn of artificial intelligence (“AI”) rises rapidly, competition authorities should contemplate the potential for hazy days ahead. Undoubtedly, AI’s already ubiquitous presence offers exciting possibilities, from enhancing efficiency, to leveling the playing field for non-native speakers, to enabling scientific discovery. Despite these breathtaking advancements, however, recent data from the Pew Research Center reveal that only 15% of adults surveyed were “more excited than concerned about the increasing use of AI in daily life,” with 46% expressing “an equal mix of concern and excitement.”

Policymakers also manifest concerns about AI, exemplified by the extent to which government actors are …

Rates And Predictors Of Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Behavior Disorder Symptoms Among Post-9/11 Veterans, Melissa B Jones, Juliann Tea, Matthew Meyers, Ruosha Li, Audri Villalon, Ritwick Agrawal, Ricardo E Jorge

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Objective: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI), which are prevalent conditions among post-9/11 veterans, increase risks of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD) and degenerative synucleinopathy. Rates and predictors of RBD symptoms were investigated by screening post-9/11 veterans for RBD with a validated questionnaire.

Methods: In this cross-sectional analysis, consecutive patients in the Houston Translational Research Center for TBI and Stress Disorders (TRACTS) were screened with the English translation of the RBD Questionnaire-Hong Kong (RBDQ-HK). In addition to data from the standard TRACTS battery, systematic chart review was used to identify known sleep disorders mimicking …

Population Screening For High-Risk Patient Identification Partnership With Care-Comprehensive Assessment, Risk, And Education., Ora K Gordon, Brad Bott, Nanor Parseghian, Kimberly K Childers, Sandra Brown

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

No abstract provided.

‘Teachers Are The Guinea Pigs’: Teacher Perspectives On A Sudden Reopening Of Schools During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Jillian Ryan, Nicole Koehler, Travis Cruickshank, Shane L. Rogers, Mandy Stanley

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Primary and secondary education systems experienced substantial disruption during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, little is known about how public health policy has affected Australian teachers during the pandemic. This study examines teacher perspectives on a sudden change of policy, whereby schools were abruptly opened to students at the beginning of the pandemic. At the same time, strict social distancing rules applied to the remainder of the population. Qualitative data from 372 Western Australian schoolteachers were analysed using thematic analysis. Results highlight substantial impacts on teachers’ workloads and adverse effects on wellbeing. Perceptions that they were acting as guinea pigs and …

Insights Into Phytonutrient Profile And Postharvest Quality Management Of Jackfruit: A Review, Jashanpreet Kaur, Zora Singh, Hafiz Muhammad Shoaib Shah, Muhammad Sohail Mazhar, Mahmood Ul Hasan, Andrew Woodward

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.), also known as ‘vegetarian’s meat’, is an excellent source of carbohydrates, protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and several phytochemicals. It is a climacteric fruit that exhibits an increase in ethylene biosynthesis and respiration rate during fruit ripening. The market value of jackfruit is reduced due to the deterioration of fruit quality during storage and transportation. There is a lack of standardized harvest maturity index in jackfruit, where consequently, fruit harvested at immature or overmature stages result in poor quality ripe fruit with short storage life. Other factors responsible for its short postharvest life relate to its highly …

Neuromuscular Adaptations To Different Set Configurations During A Periodized Power Training Block In Elite Junior Judokas, Dale M. Harris, Dustin J. Oranchuk, Christopher Latella

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Although the impacts of traditional sets (TS) versus cluster (CL) sets resistance training have been broadly explored among recreationally trained populations, no studies have previously compared these set configurations among elite Judokas. Twenty-two elite male and female Judokas (age = 17.5 ± 1.2 years) performed identical periodized 4-week hypertrophy and strength blocks (8 weeks in total). Following this, for the final 4-week power training block, the cohort was separated into either TS (n = 11) or CL (n = 11) set structures. CL were prescribed by including 45-second intra-set rest every two repetitions. One-repetition maximum (1RM) and peak barbell velocities …

Feminist Evaluation Using Feminist Participatory Action Research: Guiding Principles And Practices, Kaisha Crupi, Naomi Joy Godden

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

There is a lack of instructional literature on how to conduct a feminist evaluation to highlight and transform systemic issues in gendered and intersecting power relations. Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR) enables a process for conducting community-driven, -led and -owned feminist evaluations that drive social justice actions. By undertaking a critical review of existing literature, this article presents guiding principles and practices in how to conduct a feminist evaluation using FPAR. These principles and practices provide a framework for those who are seeking an evidence base for transformative social justice action in communities, particularly those who are working with complexity …

A Grounded Theory About How Teachers Communicated High Expectations To Their Secondary School Students, Olivia Johnston, Helen Wildy, Jennifer Shand

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

High teachers’ expectations are associated with improved student academic achievement. However, no research explains how students experience their teachers’ expectations, from their points of view. A new theory was developed to achieve the study’s aim of accounting for how high expectations were experienced by 25 students in Western Australia. The findings offer educators student-focused perspectives of how to convey high teacher expectations that lead to improved student academic outcomes. Straussian grounded theory (Strauss, 1990) methods were used to generate substantive theory together with the Year 10 students in three Western Australian public schools, through data including more than 100 classroom …

Children And Young People’S Participation In Decision-Making Within Healthcare Organisations In New Zealand: An Integrative Review, Mandie Foster, Julie Blamires, Chris Moir, Virginia Jones, Jagamaya Shrestha-Ranjit, Brie Fenton, Annette Dickinson

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

There is a paucity of literature on children and young people’s participation in decision-making within healthcare organisations in New Zealand. This integrative review examined child self-reported peer-reviewed manuscripts and published guidelines, policy, reviews, expert opinion and legislation to explore how New Zealand children and young people participate in discussions and decision-making processes within healthcare settings and what are barriers and benefits to such participation. Four child self-reported peer-reviewed manuscripts and twelve expert opinion documents were retrieved from four electronic databases including academic, government and institutional websites. Inductive content thematic analysis generated one theme (a discourse in children and young people’s …

Green Synthesis Of Nanomaterials For Smart Biopolymer Packaging: Challenges And Outlooks, Shima Jafarzadeh, Majid Nooshkam, Masoumeh Zargar, Farhad Garavand, Sabyasachi Ghosh, Milad Hadidi, Mehrdad Forough

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

There are several physical and chemical methods for synthesizing nanomaterials, while the most appropriate techniques involve using green chemistry and eco-friendly material. Recently, green synthesized materials for different applications have gained attention as a result of their environmental friendliness and cost-effectiveness. Applying green synthesized nanoparticles (NPS) in food packaging has been extensively investigated. Biopolymers require filler to enhance the optical, barrier, thermal, antimicrobial, and mechanical properties of packaging. Biopolymer packaging incorporated with green synthesized NPs is expected to simultaneously enhance performance while reducing environmental damage. The current review article focuses on biopolymer films with bio (green)-synthesized nanomaterials and their effectiveness …