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Focal Point, Volume 01 Number 03, Portland State University. Regional Research Institute

Research and Training Center - Focal Point

Therapeutic Case Advocacy (TCA) is one approach to helping emotionally handicapped children and their families. It is described here as a multi-level model to improve services for this population for two reasons. First, the approach typically requires planned, coordinated activity on three levels: the child and family, the lead organization providing services, and interagency collaboration. Second, the word "model" conveys the idea of what the real thing might look like.

The model is a preliminary pattern, a plan for guiding the actual process of helping emotionally handicapped children and their families. It is not a recipe. Any actual process of …

The Social Work Scholar: An Integrated Approach To Computing In Social Work Education, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

This paper is a progress report of a set of personal professional development efforts by a faculty member at a school of social work in a state land-grant university. The common theme of this effort is applications of available computer technology to the ordinary faculty tasks of teaching, research and public service over a 15-year period.

A Review Of Key Developments In The Scholar Project, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

The Scholar Project was my term for a variety of projects and developmental efforts to incorporate the use of computers into the everyday work life of a graduate social work faculty member before the advent of desktop computing. It began in 1974 with a variety of experiments with SPSS files, McBee "KeySort" Cards, and a Computer Aided Instruction experiment with IBM's Coursewriter software. It evolved into the full-scale integration of electronic equipment into all facets of my professional life. The Scholar bibliography mentioned, the electronic in this Research Repository, and the Docuverse project are the longest lasting products of this …

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 14, No. 1 (March 1987)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

• Editorial - ROBERT D. LEIGHNINGER, JR.
• Individual Experience and Critical Consciousness: Sources of Change in Everyday Life - DAVID GIL
• AFDC Encounters Joint Custody: Business as Usual Is not the Solution - JAN C. HAGEN
• Role Ambiguity Among Foster Parents: Semi-Professionals in Professionalizing Organizations - KENNETH J. MIETUS, MICHAEL D. FIMMEN
• Older Blacks' Predictions of Their Social Support Networks - BRENDA CRAWLEY
• Setting Funding Priorities in the Voluntary Sector: A Case Study From the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles - SAUL ANDRON
• Stress of the Caregiver: Effective Management of Dementia Patients in Hospital and Community Settings - RUTH …

Professional Achievement In Social Work, Harry Specht, Doris Britt, Charles Frost

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The authors report on a study of the professional achievements of 719 recently graduated California MSWs. Respondents are assigned an achievement score which is an index based on responses to seven questions. The scores of low achievers and high achievers are compared to analyze associations with: validating factors (e.g., salary), personal factors (race and gender), and pre-MSW factors (e.g., undergraduate education).

Rold Ambiguity Among Foster Parents: Semi-Professionals In Professionalizing Organizations, Kenneth J. Mietus, Michael D. Fimmen

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Because foster parent role ambiguity has been viewed primarily as a micro-level phenomenon, efforts to reduce its negative consequences have emphasized ameliorist solutions which attempt to alter the behavior of individuals. We suggest that consideration of role ambiguity as a macro-level phenomenon provides a sounder basis for developing long-range solutions which can alter the structure of foster care organizations in ways which will complement existing ameliorist strategies. As semi-professionals, the work-role expectations of foster parents are seen as being contradictory to the goals of a profess ionalizing organizational structure. The transitional nature of this professionalizing process, and the contradictions which …

Setting Funding Priorities In The Voluntary Sector: A Case Study From The Jewish Federation Council Of Greater Los Angeles, Saul Andron

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Resource scarcity has emerged in the 1980's as a dominant theme in the human services. Although we are acutely aware of the impact that funding cutbacks have had upon human service agencies and their programs, relatively scant attention has been given to the funding body itself as the focus of analysis. The ways in which the funding body addresses the issue of resource distribution under scarcity conditions is of critical concern to the social welfare field. This paper analyzes one model adopted by a large voluntary fundraising and funding organization-planned priorities-setting-to provide a strategic and rational framework for guiding allocations …

Stress Of The Caregiver: Effective Management Of Dementia Patients In Hospital And Community Settings, Ruth E. Dunkle, Michael Nevin

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study explores the management problems among elders with dementia and their medical and family caregivers. Twenty-five patients were interviewed as well as professional health care personnel and a family member. Findings indicated that professional assessment facilitates home caregiving but has little bearing on successful coping by the caregiver. Variability of coping relates to the strategy employed.

Professional Autonomy In Community Mental Health Centers, William E. Buffum

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Professional community mental health workers want considerable autonomy in doing their work, but too much autonomy can lead to frustration and less satisfaction with work. This finding of a study of 93 mental health professionals in three community mental health centers is in sharp contrast with a comparison group of 60 professionals in a chemical plant. The article cautions against the direct translation of research on all professionals to community mental health professionals.

A Response To "Professional Achievement In Social Work", Timothy W. Lause

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper raises several interesting issues for policy and research in the field of social work education. Nonetheless, serious shortcomings undermine its analysis of background factors to professional achievement. Even if one suspends critical assessments of the study's rationale and of its central index, the evidence presented here seems far more ambiguous than acknowledged. The quality of data is the primary subject of these comments. For purposes of this symposium, however, it seems appropriate to preface them with a few questions.

Rejoinder, Harry Specht

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The comments by Chaiklin and Lause are representative of the sort of scholarly, but sterile and despairing, criticism that pervades social work education today. They have many technical complaints about the Specht-Britt-Frost paper: the conceptualization of the variables is defective; the response rate is too low; the sample is poor; the weightings are inappropriate; gamma is not a sufficiently powerful measure of correlation; and so forth. I have responded to most of these issues elsewhere, (1) so I will address only two here.

In Search Of The Continuum: Graduate School Performance Of Bsw And Non-Bsw Degree Holders, Anne E. Fortune, Robert G. Green, Michael S. Kolevzon

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Do students with prior academic preparation in social work perform better in graduate school than students who do not have a BSW? Master's students in a southeastern school of social work were surveyed about their background, general psychosocial adjustment, adjustment to and attitudes toward graduate school, and graduate academic performance. Forced-entry multiple regression was used to control simultaneously for the effect of background and adjustment factors on four outcome variables: Grade Point Average in the most recent semesters; Stress as a Student; Educational Program Satisfaction; and Professional Social Work Commitment. Having a BSW was unrelated to Educational Program Satisfaction and …

Editorial, Robert Leighninger

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

As you may have noticed, there've been some changes made. Norman Goroff, our Founding Editor and Publisher, has decided that putting the Journal out by himself while trying to maintain his University's extension program in upper New England is too much work. Norm has published the Journal at the University of Connecticut since its beginning; he and Ralph Segalman, the other Founding Editor, shared the editing chores. Six years ago, they turned that responsibility over to me; but Norm continued to do the publishing. Since this separation of offices has been a constant source of confusion to our authors, subscribers, …

Afdc Encounters Joint Custody: Business As Usual Is Not The Solution, Jan L. Hagen

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In the fifty years since its enactment, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) has become increasingly difficult to administer efficiently and equitably. Most recently, this increasing complexity is illustrated by eligibility determinations for divorced families having joint custody of the children. A recent national survey of state agencies administering AFDC programs reveals a diversity of approaches in determining eligibility under the continued absence requirement for joint custody situations. As illustrated by these joint custody cases, the meaningfulness as well as the usefulness of the continued absence requirement for AFDC eligibility has become increasingly questionable in terms of responding to …

Individual Experience And Critical Consciousness: Sources Of Social Change In Everyday Life, David G. Gil

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Social scientists tend to interpret social change as the result of collective action. However, all collective action is at some level and time initiated and carried out by individuals, who, of course, are rooted in particular social contexts. A theory of social change needs to derive, therefore, not only from the study of collective action, but also from the study of individual initiation of, and involvement in, social change oriented practice.

The following observations on individual involvement in social change practice are based on personal experience and study over several decades. They are not a theory of social change but …

Older Blacks' Predictions Of Their Social Support Networks, Brenda Crawley

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Predicting resources for one's later years is risky and evokes feelings of vulnerability. Findings from a study of older blacks reveal that while race and culture may predispose clients to prefer certain resources, such as spouses and children, others realistically expect kin and friends to care for them. The heterogeneous nature of the black elderly suggests an open posture be maintained in assessing support resources for those who face short- or long- term care needs.

The Impact Of Program Centralization On The Utilization Of Social Services: The Case Of The Ssi Program, Yossef Meller, Nancy Mudrick

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

When the Old Age Assistance (OAA), Aid to the Blind (AB), and Aid to the Permanently and Totally Disabled (APTD) caseloads were converted to SSI in 1974, only cash payments were transferred to the Social Security Administration; social services remained available through public welfare agencies. This paper assesses the extent to which the service utilization of low income aged and disabled persons changed with the social service delivery system changes associated with the implementation of SSI. We found that the proportion of persons receiving social services decreased slightly between the last year of the old programs and the first year …

The Effect Of Changes In The Federal Disability Programs On State And Local General Assistance Programs, Courtney Scherer Petersen, Eric R. Kingson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Since early 1981, there has been a large-scale removal of persons from the SSI and Social Security disability programs as a result of the Social Security Disability Amendments of 1980. This article reports on the findings of a national survey designed to determine whether the removal of persons from the federal disability programs had an impact on state and local General Assistance programs and the extent to which older recipients of General Assistance are in need of long-term income assistance for health and other reasons.

Some states and jurisdictions have noticed an increase in applications as a result of federal …

Symposium On "Professional Achievement In Social Work", Robert D. Leighninger Jr.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This Symposium is an experiment. It is an attempt to have an argument over a piece of controversial research in a way that will clarify both the methodological and ideological issues involved.

Comment On "Professional Achievement" In Social Work, Harris Chaiklin

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Anything which would help explain professional achievement in social work would be an important contribution to knowledge. In the present instance poor conceptualization and weak data analyses do not support such a conclusion.

Book Review, Jonathan Rabinowitz

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

BOOK REVIEW BY ARTHUR B. SHOSTAK AND GARY McLOUTH, WITH LYNN SENG

A Matching Process: More Effective Placement Procedures For Court Dependent Children, Lester M. Kushner

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

Focal Point, Volume 01 Number 02, Portland State University. Regional Research Institute

Research and Training Center - Focal Point

This issue of Focal Point features the Families as Allies Project, which is designed to promote collaboration between families of children with emotional handicaps and the professionals who serve them. Project objectives include conducting relevant research, developing training curricula and other written materials, and designing and presenting workshops and other training events.

Included in this issue is a report about an April, 1986 conference held in Portland that involved equal numbers of parents and professionals from thirteen western states. This meeting was one of the first public explorations of our project concepts, and we were very gratified by the positive …

Computer Use In Social Services Network Newsletter, Dick Schoech

Computer Use in Social Services Network

No abstract provided.

Professional Contacts And Perceived Occupational Prestige, Moshe Sherer

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

A random sample of 142 social workers in Israel, were asked to indicate the other professionals whom they meet in the course of their work, and the frequency of these contacts. They were also asked to assess the occupational prestige of social workers relative to that of the other professionals. The findings showed that social workers tended to downgrade their own prestige, the more frequently they met with representatives of occupations which have higher rankings on an objective occupational prestige scale.

The Definition Of Social Problems: Differing Perceptions Of Israeli Social Workers And Women, Varda Muhlbauer, Claire Rabin, Nadine Hollander

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Recent social changes have intensified and created special problems and needs among women. However, social work schools have not included women's studies as part of the overall curriculum. This Israeli study examined the congruence of women's needs as perceived by women clients and as perceived by social workers, to see whether a specialized training program is needed. Fifty low-socioeconomic status women, women selected from the general population, and 16 social workers from the same community were presented with a list of 21 problem areas known to be pertinent to women. The group of 50 women equally represented homemakers, divorced, widowed, …

A Critical Analysis Of The Impact Of Day Care On The Pre-School Child And The Family, John T. Pardeck, Jean A. Pardeck, John W. Murphy

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Maternal employment has increased dramatically over the last two decades. The result of this increase in the number of working mothers is the expanded use of day care programs for children. Examined in this paper are research findings on the impact of day-care on the child and the family. The implications of these findings for policy development are discussed.

Currently in the United States, over 50 percent of mothers work outside the home; this figure is expected to rise to 75 percent by 1990. The fastest growing segment of the working mother population is among those with children under two …

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 13, No. 4 (December 1986)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Table of Contents

• The Definition of Social Problems: Differing Perceptions of Israeli Social Workers and Women - VARDA MUHLBAUEP, CLAIRE RABIU, NADINE HOLLANDER - pp. 701
• Professional Contacts and Perceived Occupational Prestige - MOSHE SHERER - pp. 721
• Social Worker's Satisfactions: Methodological Notes and Substantive Findings - Y. MELLER, D. MACAROV - pp. 740
• Social Service Needs of Migrants in Limbo; Israelis in New York - JOSEF KORAZIM - pp. 762
• Holidays as Multiple Realities: Experiencing Good Times and Bad Times after a Disabling Injury - MARY JO DEEGAN - pp. 786
• Assessing the Needs of Mothers With Mentally Retarded …

Assessing The Needs Of Mothers With Mentally Retarded Offspring: An Empirical Approach, Jonathan Rabinowitz

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This exploratory study assesses the needs of mothers with retarded offspring living at home. Previous studies have focused on meeting those parental needs which would benefit their retarded offspring. This study does not limit parental needs to those needs, which if met would benefit the retarded child, and defines parents as an independent group with special needs.

Measuring Domestic Violence In An Alcoholic Population, Larry R. Livingston

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

A survey of 107 adults receiving residential treatment for substance abuse was conducted, to determine characteristics of domestic violence in relationships. The survey incorporated instruments to measure the degree of substance abuse (the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test or MAST) as well as types and frequencies of domestic violence (the Conflict Tactics Scale or CTS-N). Findings are then compared to a national study of 2143 normals (Straus, Gelles, & Steinmetz, 1980) to ascertain differences in domestic violence.

Findings indicate that 83% of alcoholic subjects behaved violently in past relationships, compared to 28% of the normal population. Fifty-five percent of the alcoholics …