Mental and Social Health Commons^™

The Influence Of The Agency Environment On Clinical Practice, Anthony N. Maluccio

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In an in-depth, exploratory study of their perception of treatment in a family service agency, it was found that clients stressed the impact of the agency’s, social and physical environment on the helping process and its outcome. Workers, in contrast, took the environment for granted or had little to say about it. This paper discusses the findings and selected practice implications.

Lessons From Private Health Insurance, Martha N. Ozawa

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

All across the country there is a sense of urgency, and even of crisis over what is happening in the health industry. Of special concern are the rapid rate of increase in the cost of health care services and the increasing national expenditures for health care. For fiscal year 1976, the total U.S. spending for health care reached $149.8 billion, or a per capita expenditure of $638. Expressed as a percentage of the gross national product (GNP), the national spending for health care reached a record-breaking 8.6 percent.1 From the early 1960s--except during the period from August 1971 through April …

Heroin--Myths And Knowledge: Impact On Public Policy, Robert Salmon

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Public Policy in the United States towards the heroin user and addict has been punitive as well as unsuccessful in deterring drug use or in treatment of the addict. Bias, myths, and prejudices have influenced our policy stance and have made heroin addiction a more serious problem than it otherwise would have been. This is explicated in the article, and contrasted with the British system which in attitude and practice tends to view the addict as ill rather than evil.

Lay Counseling: The Basis Of Prevention In Mental Health, James R. Seaberg

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The purpose of this paper is to increase the recognition of lay counseling as a basis of mental health prevention and to present a summary of the state of knowledge about it. Lay counseling is cast as one of several components of mental health prevention and treatment, a definition is offered which distinguishes it from paraprofessional and selp-help services, knowledge about it both direct and tangential is summarized, and future research and policy implications are discussed.

Requisites For The Establishment, Implementation, And Evaluation Of Social Work Treatment Programs For Anti-Social Children, John S. Wodarski

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Requisites for the establishment, implementation and evaluation of social work treatment programs for anti-social children are reviewed. Specific items discussed are: how does one ascertain the level at which change efforts should be directed, i.e., individual, group, organizational, or societal; what is the appropriate context for behavioral change; who should act as the change agent; what characteristics should the worker possess; what are the rationale for service provided; how long should the treatment continue; how does one prepare for the termination of treatment and maintenance of behavior; what organizational factors of treatment contexts are pertinent to the constructive delivery of …

The Principles Of General Systems Theory Applied To The Medical Model: Who Benefits?, James T. Decker, John R. Redhorse

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The term "Medical Model", though frequently used by professionals, theoreticians and laymen in referring to certain aspects of the medical profession, or of the entire medical system, is rarely used with any degree of precision. The term, indeed, has been used as a shorthand expression, leaving it unnecessary to explicate descriptively the interrelated components of the medical arena. The theories, conceptual constructs, practice, and operating ideologies of the Medical Model, and their association with bi-cultural, economic, political and other concepts are left unspoken. These elements are simply assumed to be implicit in the use of the term. It is our …

The Educational Needs Of Social Work Faculty In Medical Schools, Richard M. Grinnell Jr., Nancy S. Kyte

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Despite a long-standing association and promise for a closer alliance in the future, considerable ambiguity surrounds the current participation of social workers in medical education. A nationwide study was conducted to obtain a comprehensive, up-todate profile of social work faculty employed by medical schools-- their total number, demographic characteristics, department affiliations, primary specialties, methods and content areas of academic instruction, etc. An accompanying study focused on the opinions of medical school Deans concerning the present and future status of social work faculty in medical education. Attention has been given to social work education in relation to health care practice. Another …

Washington County Aftercare Service Utilization Study, James Richard Peterson

Dissertations and Theses

Broadly speaking, the purpose of this study is to:

1. Assess the functioning of the psychiatric hospital aftercare service delivery system by examining community service utilization patterns of Dammasch Hospital releases.

2. Obtain descriptive information relating to Washington County's chronic aftercare population.

3. Provide an objective data base that can be used to further develop the Aftercare Service Delivery System in Washington County.

A Survey Of Mental Health Clients Admitted To General Hospital Emergency Rooms, Marsha J. Beale

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this survey was to obtain information from hospital emergency room staff on each mental health admission during the period of December 15, 1977 to January 15, 1978. Mental health admissions were broadly defined to include those people who were experiencing an observable mental health difficulty, but who may have initially presented primary medical problems. At the request of Multnomah County Mental Health Division's Management Team, and with the approval of the Emergency Department Nurses Association (EDNA), questionnaires were distributed among 16 general hospitals in the Portland, Oregon, Tri-County area. These hospitals are located in Multnomah, Clackamas, and …

Follow-Up Study Of Children In Six Day And Residential Treatment Service (Darts) Centers In Oregon, Doris M. Beard, L. Gail Bulkley

Dissertations and Theses

This study was begun at the request of the Mental Health Division (MHD) of the State of Oregon. The purpose was to conduct a follow-up study on six Day and Residential Treatment Service (DARTS) Centers which are funded by MHD. The purpose of the research was to assess whether or not the Centers are an effective treatment tool. The information acquired by this study will be used to provide information to MHD and the DARTS Center Directors to assist their decision making regarding program direction, and to provide MHD with specific information to be used in preparation for the upcoming …

The "Significant Other" In Marital And Family Therapy, Nathan Hurvitz

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The significant other (SO) is derived from the social behaviorism of G. H. Mead which is comparable to contemporary cognitive behaviorism. The SO is defined as an analytical concept by examining interaction in social acts; it includes attributes associated with the family member's role-reciprocity, meanings, affect, self-concept and modeling; and it is associated with concepts such as transformation, attribution and social interchange. The process by which the therapist becomes an SO to the family members individually and jointly, and how he or she utilizes transformation, attribution and social interchange are outlined.

Elements Of The Perpetuation Of Dependency In A Psychiatric Halfway House, David R. Maines, Marilyn A. Markowitz

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Halfway houses are intended as helping institutions for those who are attempting to make the transition from institutionalized mental health facilities to autonomous living in the community. In spite of the manifest goal to produce independence for its residents, however, the halfway house contributes to patterns of dependency. In addition to the network nature of mental health care, we identify three dependency-perpetuating elements: role commitments, language, and mixed messages. These elements are analyzed as both social organizational and social psychological processes, and their implications are discussed.

A Study Of Multnomah County Community Support Services For The Chronically Mentally Ill, Karen Albers

Dissertations and Theses

In recent years attention has been given to the problems of the chronically mentally ill in regard to the effects of deinstitutionalization and a need for community supports. In this study, 77 service providers to the chronically mentally ill of Multnomah County (Portland), Oregon were interviewed to assess the components of the existing community support system for this population, as well as to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the system. Ten chronically mentally ill clients were interviewed in a similar manner.

Although a multitude of problems were reported, service providers most frequently mentioned the need for residential situations, for …

A Descriptive Study Of Demography & Transportation Issues Of Chronically Mentally Ill In The Eastern Oregon Comprehensive Community Mental Health Catchment Area, Tom H. Brubaker, David Emmons, John Meade

Dissertations and Theses

The CMI (Chronically Mentally Ill) experience many problems in obtaining services in both rural and urban environments. Such problems include community resistance to the mentally ill, inadequate treatment services, support systems, a lack of service utilization, and a lack of follow-up studies concerning this population, especially in rural areas. While these problems are generally characteristic of all areas of the country, whether urban or rural, they tend to have extreme manifestations in rural areas. Such problems are also conjoint in rural areas with rural life poverty, isolation, transportation difficulties, and sparse populations. In order to understand the possible barriers to …

Industrial Social Work : A Review Of The Literature And An Evaluation Of An Employee Assistance Program, Gregory Mark Lee

Dissertations and Theses

In the attempt to explore the world of work as an arena for mental health services, this report can be considered as having two major goals. The first is to provide a review and discussion of many of the issues that impact on and are part of the industrial social work field. The meaning of work will be discussed, from both an historical and psychological point of view. Aspects of the community mental health ideology will be presented, especially in relation to the world of work. A brief review of various types of mental health programming will be discussed, as …

Informal Support Systems For The Aged: Limitations And Issues, Marjorie Buckholz

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The need for community social services to enable older persons to remain in their homes has been well documented (Gold, 1974; Lohman, 1978; Atchley, 1977; Blenkner, 1977). Inspite of a growing service industry and professional corps of helpers, it does not reach the growing numbers of elderly, especially the older-elderly who are most likely to be frail (Gold, 1974; Lohmann, 1978; Heyman and Polansky, 1977). The aged share of the population has grown relative to the younger age group. In 1900, 6.4% of the U. S. population was 60 years or older; in 1975, it had increased to 14.8% (U. …

Differential Aspects Of Assessment And Intervention In Social Work Practice With The Elderly And Their Families, Barbara Silverstone

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

So much in our society separates the rest of us from the old that a discussion of the differential aspects of practice with the elderly and their families (many of whom are aging) runs the risk of being redundant as well as a concealed endorsement of the professional biases which afflict us all. The truth of the matter is that important differences do exist between social work practice with the old and with younger generations, differentials which emanate from a sound gerontological knowledge base. Although the similarities far out-weigh the discrepancies, failure to recognize or delineate these differences has resulted …

Preparing Social Work Practitioners To Work With And In Behalf Of Older Adults, Margaret E. Hartford

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Practice in the field of social gerontology is one of the developing frontiers in social work. Now and in the foreseeable future, services with a population that is growing older will be a rapidly expanding field of practice. Many of the programs for older adults are multidisciplinary and demand collaboration among several professions and services. In some instances social work is and will be the central organizing force assuming administrative responsibility. In other instances social workers are collateral with several professions, and in still others social work services are an adjunct to another service profession, such as medicine nursing, urban …

Volunteer Support For The Institutionalized Elderly, Harold Zepelin, Janet Stutzman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

A neglected topic in discussions of services for the institutionalized elderly seems to be the question of whether the residents of nursing homes are receiving adequate support from volunteers. Undoubtedly, voluntarism is playing an important part in the provision of services and emotional support for the aged population, among them the elderly that are institutionalized. But because of the child-centeredness and youth-orientation of American society, it is possible that work with the elderly may not be attracting volunteers in proportion to the needs of this population. This may be especially true of the elderly in institutions because work with this …

A Comparison Of Factors Associated With Past Use, Projected Use, And Perceived Community Need For Health And Social Services, Pat M. Keith

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Life change, political, and demographic factors associated with past use, projected use, and perceived community needs for services by the aged were examined. Data were derived from interviews conducted with men and women 65 or over in a midwestern community. Life changes were more useful in explaining relationships with health and social services among men than were demographic and political variables. But among women, there was less difference in the amount of variance explained by the three groups of variables. Although men and women differed little in the extent to which they had experienced life changes, discontinuity was differentially associated …

Conflict Theories And Social Work Education, Norman N. Goroff

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

How one defines the world has consequences for one's actions in the world. Sociology has attempted to utilize the scientific method to help human beings understand their social world. However, in the process of its development, sociology has reflected the ideological bias of its practitioners. (Mills, 1943). Irving Zeitlin (1968, pp. vii) claims "Much of classical sociology arose within the context of a debate - first with eighteenth-century thought of the Enlightenment, and later with its true heir of the nineteenth century, Karl Marx."

The central theme of this paper is that social work education makes extensive use of conflict …

Medical Social Work Faculty: Clinicians Or Educators?, Richard M. Grinnell Jr., Nancy S. Kyte

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Within the health care field, medical social work has expanded rapidly over the past few years. In the United States, medical social workers comprise approximately 1.5 percent of the total medical schools' faculty. And, there is empirical evidence that medical social work faculty will increase substantially over the years to come.

However, we as social work educators know very little about medical social work facultys' opinions on how they perceive their overall function within medical schools. More specifically, if medical social work faculty are to function effectively in medical settings, we as a profession must know: if they perceive themselves …

Interactionist Theory, Human Behavior Social Work And Social Work Education, Ralph Segalman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Much explanation of human behavior is based on assumptions about animal behavior. Two major contemporary theories, Behaviorism and Freudianism place major emphasis upon the human being as animal. Many middle-level theories have no reference to man's distinctive social characteristics. However, social explanations of behavior do have a heuristic advantage in the study of human functioning and "social pathology."

Systems Theory, Robert D. Leighninger Jr.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Systems Theory has generated a lot of excitement in the last decade. It has also spawned more than its share of pitchmen, enough so that it is in danger of being discredited before its genuine potential in many fields of practice has been fairly tested. Wearing the double halo of Science and Corporate Efficiency conferred by its association with the aerospace industry and the Pentagon, it has been enthusiastically offered to Federal and State governments (Chartrand, 1971; Hoos, 1969 & 1972) as well as private individuals and organizations as a way of solving complex social problems like mass transit, crime, …

Structural Functional Theory, Social Work Practice And Education, Joe Hudson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The theoretical framework of structural functionalism in sociological theory does not consist of a single, unified, and consistent exposition. Different writers make different emphases, use somewhat different terminolog, and include different phenomena under a variety of similar terms. Rather than attempt to deal superficially with a wide variety of theorists writing out of this perspective, we will focus primarily on the central concepts in the work of perhaps the most eminent proponent of this approach in current sociological work - Talcott Parsons - and, in turn, discuss the relevance of this framework for social work education and practice.

Assessment Of The Needs Of The Families Of The Hospitalized Mentally Ill, Jean Pelosi Audette, Phyllis J. Jossy

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to assess the special needs of the families of hospitalized mental patients. The study focused upon the time prior to and including the decision to hospitalize a mentally ill family member. Particularly, the researchers wished to examine the stresses that the family encountered in attempting to deal with a disturbed member as well as their concerns regarding psychiatric hospitalization and the effect which it had upon the family.

A Research Project On The Developmentally Disabled Adult, Randi Lynn Hillinger

Dissertations and Theses

No comprehensive data base concerning the adult developmentally disabled (ADD) population is available. The absence of theoretical formulations about aging, and particularly the aging ADD, make it difficult for service providers or professionals to incorporate a conceptual framework into their work.

An Analysis Of Sex Role Bias In Clinician's Evaluations Of Client Behavior, Shari Paula Greenberg

Dissertations and Theses

This study investigated the effects of sex differences on clinical judgements. It was hypothesized that: l) clinicians will respond differently to aggressive, self-assertive, or dependent behavior, depending upon whether this behavior was performed by a man or a woman; 2) clinicians will have different treatment goals for a man and a woman who behaved in the same manner; 3) clinicians will describe the client engaged in aggressive, self-assertive, or dependent behavior differently, depending on the sex of the client; 4) clinicians will have different feelings towards men and women behaving in exactly the: same manner, and; 5) clinicians will rate …

Living And Acting In An Altered Body: A Phenomenological Description Of Amputation, Mary Jo Deegan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Adults with recent amputations are often perceived as suffering from post-operative depression and phantom limbs. These states are frequently seen as failures in "adjustment" since there are often few physiological involvements which curtail daily functioning. This perspective is seen as compatible with major American values of pragmatism, individualism, and a mechanistic medical model. We suggest here that problems in daily living and the phantom limb are not "mental" aberrations but rather reflections of a radically altered lived experience. The performance of the actor is significantly changed and can be discussed as a function of changed experience, and style. This persppctivedraws …

Program Evaluation: A Model For Evaluating Group Homes For The Developmentally Disabled, Michael J. Maley

Dissertations and Theses

The movement to increase the number of group home programs for the mentally retarded/developmentally disabled is present in the state of Oregon. The Boundary Street group home, located in Portland, was established as a result of this movement. As a rather typical group home program, it is subject to many of the program concerns and evaluation needs experienced by similar services. This point represents the ultimate reason for this paper. The primary purpose will be to develop a program evaluation system that will be appropriate and beneficial in meeting the evaluation needs of the Boundary Street group home. Because the …