Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Shared Gold: Mapping Of Community Engagement, Brian Gogan, Jennifer Harrison

Academic Leadership Academy

Engaged universities and communities are a key focus for meaningful social transformation and addressing complex educational issues including access, research ethics, and business development (Cherrington et al., 2018).

Universities throughout the nation are called not only to serve their academic community, but also the communities in which they are situated. In fact, ongoing revisions to the Higher Learning Commission’s accreditation criteria suggest that community engagement will serve as a primary means by which institutions of higher education will demonstrate their publicly oriented missions and fulfill accreditation criterion number one (Higher Learning Commission, 2018).

Community engagement can be defined as “the …

School Of Social Work, May 2017, College Of Health And Human Services

Social Work Newsletter

• Upcoming Events
• Please welcome Dr. Jennifer Harrison as an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work, effective August 2017.
• Dr. Dee Sherwood, Faculty Specialist II, and Coordinator of Extended University Program, Grand Rapids, has won a CDC case study grant in collaboration with Public Health faculty Dr. Shannon McMorrow and Dr. Vivian Valdmanis.

School Of Social Work, April 2017, College Of Health And Human Services

Social Work Newsletter

• WMU Fostering Success program saluted as a 'beacon' for college access
• Dr. Ineke Way will be retiring at the end of the spring semester, after teaching in the School of Social Work since 1991
• Considering a study abroad opportunity? There are openings in the Social Justice and Sustainability in India program, scheduled for fall 2017
• Congratulations
• Upcoming Events

School Of Social Work, March 2017, College Of Health And Human Services

Social Work Newsletter

• Upcoming Events
• Seven social work graduate students are published in prestigious Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare.
• Register for this upcoming interprofessional training - March 30 from 5-7 p.m.
• Join us April 10 from 12-3 at WMU - Southwest

Community Engagement At Work: A Service-Learning Project With Kalamazoo Loaves And Fishes, Katrina Goodall, Pamela Jenkins, Cherlynn King, Jacob Lisak, Jennifer Malone, Becky Mullins, Douglas Schroeder, Christina Smith

Research and Creative Activities Poster Day

This Service-Learning project combined experiential learning with the Evaluation component of Participatory Action Research. A comprehensive review of national data and definitions of food insecurity was bench marked against KLF's program definition. A "Radar Chart" (gap analysis) of staff and Board perceptions on the effectiveness of services was developed, and Logic Models created to reflect service delivery. Students also worked a shift at a local food pantry where observational data was analyzed. Study results will be presented to Kalamazoo Loaves and Fishes staff and Board leadership for the purposes of further program evaluation and development.

"I'Ve Been There Too": Peers In Co-Occuring Services And Fidelity Over Time, Jennifer E. Harrison

Research and Creative Activities Poster Day

Integrated Dual Disorder Treatment (IDDT) is an evidence-based pracitice (EBP) for adults with co-occuring mental illness and substance use disorders, a group with poor outcomes. In Michigan, IDDT has been altered by adding peer specialists to treatment teams in some of 68 teams and 122 fidelity reviews. Results included that fidelity significantly improved over time (F(2, 120) = 1.87, p

Social Capital And Suicide: Social Workers' Obligation Toward Contemporary Suicide Prevention, Christopher Hodshire, Roghayeh Khosravi, Shuresh Lotfi

Social Work Faculty Publications

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “approximately 1 million die by suicide in the world every year and it is estimated that 1.5 million will die from suicide in 2020.”To many in the social work field feels this is disturbing news that deserves far more attention both by the academics and the mass-media. This study pertains to the applications of social capital theory and its everyday practice in the social work profession. In particular, the study provides a deeper understanding and review of social capital, suicide and its application of social capital theory in the social work practice with …

A Proposed Health Education And Physical Fitness Incentive Program To Decrease Alcohol Misuse And Increase The Physical Health Of Rural Probationers, Sarah Graff

Research and Creative Activities Poster Day

No abstract provided.

Defining A Foster Care Placement Move: The Perspective Of Adults Who Formerly Lived In Multiple Out-Of-Home Placements, Yvonne Unrau

Social Work Faculty Publications

Several studies have demonstrated that children who experience multiple placements are more likely to experience behavioral problems and are less likely to achieve reunification. However, little is known about how move transitions— from one foster home to another, from foster care to birth family home, or between family placements and group care facilities—are perceived or experienced by children in foster care, or those formerly in foster care. This qualitative study examines the definition of foster care placement moves from the perspective of adults formerly in foster care. Participants identify both physical and psychological shifts as key dimensions of the placement …

When Personal Dreams Derail, Rural Cameroonian Women Aspire For Their Children, Akuri John, Susan Weinger, Barbara Barton

Social Work Faculty Publications

Data gathered from a convenience sample of 36 women who reside in rural villages lying on the outskirts of Buea, Cameroon is not consistent with the "culture of poverty" proposition which states that personal characteristics of the poor tie them to a life of poverty. These findings run counter to an assumed "culture of poverty" in which persons do not hold career aspirations and socialize their children with attitudes that assure the generational transmission of poverty. Respondents, as a case vignette illustrates, conveyed that besides marriage they had wanted a career in order to achieve a living wage. After their …

Community Encounter, Linda C. Reeser

Academic Leadership Academy

The purpose of this project is to inform more students about the baccalaureate social work degree and the possibility of a career in social work and also to provide students with an educational opportunity before they decide on or embark upon a career, to get a greater appreciation of the realities and hardships some people face in living and surviving (e.g. poverty, homelessness, immigration). This project will potentially increase student interest in a social work/human service career. The methods used will be discussion with students in their classes and at a reception and offering students a community experience for two …

Family Group Conferencing In Child Welfare: Lessons From A Demonstration Project, Yvonne Unrau

Social Work Faculty Publications

A child-welfare family group conferencing (FGC) project that served families who were referred for child abuse, neglect, and/or abandonment issues is reported. The stages and mechanisms used to implement the family group conferences are described, and the conferencing processes and outcomes are presented.

Permanency Outcomes In Legal Guardianships Of Abused/Neglected Children, James Henry

Social Work Faculty Publications

Legal guardianships for abused/neglected children are often utilized by the child welfare system to create permanency placements. This descriptive study explores the permanency outcomes for abused/neglect children in legal guardianships. Five hundred forty-five family court guardianship files from two southwestern counties in Michigan were reviewed. The findings indicated that successful permanency was dependent on the reason the guardianship. Legal guardianships established following adjudicated child abuse/neglect (seventy-seven) in family court had a permanency disruption rate of 29%. Guardianships established after child abuse/neglect occurred (thirty-six), but prior to adjudication, had a permanency disruption rate of only 9%. Reasons for the disruptions and …

Children Living In Poverty: Their Perception Of Career Opportunities, Susan Weinger

Social Work Faculty Publications

Growing up in poverty often diminishes a child's opportunity to pursue a rewarding career path. This qualitative study explored whether poor children are aware that their wealthier peers' chances for success may be greater than their own. Projective techniques employing photographs of two houses representing poor and middle-income families were used to interview twenty-four children between the ages of five and thirteen years, divided equally between white and African Americans. These respondents perceived that society provides better future job opportunities to non poor children while limiting those of the poor. Although respondents suggested that they and their friends could be …

When Dreams Wither And Resources Fail: The Social-Support Systems Of Poor Single Mothers, Susan Weinger

Social Work Faculty Publications

Recent political decisions to redesign the welfare system compels single mothers to work. With concern for the women and children so effected, this qualitative study explores the views of 42 poor single mothers regarding (1) their aspirations and dreams in relation to work and (2) the helpfulness of their social support networks in enabling them to make transitions to work or to study. Analysis was performed on both the sample as a whole and on subgroups of respondents who were divided by work category, e.g. employed fulltime, employed part-time, women who were students and full-time mothers. Developing meaningful subgroupings of …