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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

“My Body Is Strong And Amazing”: Embodied Experiences Of Pregnancy And Birth Among Young Women In Foster Care, Elizabeth M. Aparicio, Svetlana Shpiegel, Claudette Grinnell-Davis, Bryn King Mar 2019

“My Body Is Strong And Amazing”: Embodied Experiences Of Pregnancy And Birth Among Young Women In Foster Care, Elizabeth M. Aparicio, Svetlana Shpiegel, Claudette Grinnell-Davis, Bryn King

Department of Social Work and Child Advocacy Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Foster youth become pregnant at 2–3 times the rate of the general U.S. adolescent population. Yet, there is a dearth of literature exploring experiences of pregnancy and birth among such young women. This phenomenological study included 18 in-depth interviews with six mothers aged 19–22 years in or transitioning from foster care. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, the specific phenomenological method used in this study, proceeded through six steps: 1. reading and re-reading; 2. initial noting; 3. developing emergent themes; 4. developing superordinate themes; 5. repeating steps 1–4 for each case; and 6. developing a set of final themes. This process yielded three …


Lgbtq Youth In Foster Care: Litigated Reform Of New Jersey’S Child Welfare System, Ariel Alvarez Jan 2019

Lgbtq Youth In Foster Care: Litigated Reform Of New Jersey’S Child Welfare System, Ariel Alvarez

Department of Political Science and Law Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Institutional heteronormativity is endemic across the U.S. state foster care system. The study purpose was to explore New Jersey’s child welfare agency in the context of policy changes during litigated reform that diminished the influence of institutional heteronormativity contributing to inadequate care of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ) foster youth. LGBTQ-related policy-based reforms identified through document analysis included: (a) leveraging the authority of state sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression (SOGIE) based anti-discrimination legislation; (b) establishing a Safe Space Initiative program; and (c) integrating SOGIE-based anti-discrimination policy and procedural changes to LGBTQ youth case practice, management, service …


Ideals And Reality: Perceptions Of Healthy And Unhealthy Relationships Among Foster Youth, Bradley Forenza, Autumn Bermea, Briana Rogers Jun 2018

Ideals And Reality: Perceptions Of Healthy And Unhealthy Relationships Among Foster Youth, Bradley Forenza, Autumn Bermea, Briana Rogers

Department of Social Work and Child Advocacy Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Exploring romantic relationships is a hallmark of adolescence. As dating relationships are often new during this development trajectory, learning how to be in a relationship (e.g., learning healthy communication skills, etc.) is necessary to facilitate positive partnerships during the transition to adulthood. However, foster youth are a group routinely overlooked within the literature on developing positive and healthy relationships. This formative, exploratory study utilizes focus groups and in-depth interviews to understand foster youth perceptions of healthy and unhealthy dating relationships through a social learning theory lens. Findings explore foster youth perceptions of ideal relationships, the realities of their lived relational …


Awareness, Analysis, Engagement: Critical Consciousness Through Foster Youth Advisory Board Participation, Bradley Forenza Apr 2018

Awareness, Analysis, Engagement: Critical Consciousness Through Foster Youth Advisory Board Participation, Bradley Forenza

Department of Social Work and Child Advocacy Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Foster youth advisory boards provide child welfare-involved young people a forum through which to impact the policies, programs, and services that govern their care. In addition to facilitating policy change, these boards may also enable participating youth to cultivate a deeper understanding of themselves and their worlds. The present study utilized a strengths-based, critical consciousness framework to describe the ways in which 15 foster youth advisory board members in a single state reflect on, analyze, and respond to their socio-political worlds. To this end, the author aims to describe youth advisory board processes, while attempting to answer the question, “How …


Smoking Behaviors Among Adolescents In Foster Care: A Gender-Based Analysis, Svetlana Shpiegel, Steve Sussman, Scott E. Sherman, Omar El Shahawy Sep 2017

Smoking Behaviors Among Adolescents In Foster Care: A Gender-Based Analysis, Svetlana Shpiegel, Steve Sussman, Scott E. Sherman, Omar El Shahawy

Department of Social Work and Child Advocacy Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Background and objectives: Adolescents in foster care are at high risk for cigarette smoking. However, it is not clear how their smoking behaviors vary by gender. The present study examined lifetime and current smoking among males and females, and explored gender-specific risk factors for engagement in smoking behaviors. Method: Data from the Multi Site Evaluation of Foster Youth Programs was used to evaluate patterns of smoking among adolescents aged 12–18 years (N = 1121; 489 males, 632 females). Results: Males and females did not differ significantly in rates of lifetime and current smoking, or in the age of smoking initiation …


A Social Ecology Analysis Of Childbirth Among Females Emancipating From Foster Care, Svetlana Shpiegel, Michele Cascardi, Michael Dineen May 2017

A Social Ecology Analysis Of Childbirth Among Females Emancipating From Foster Care, Svetlana Shpiegel, Michele Cascardi, Michael Dineen

Department of Social Work and Child Advocacy Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Purpose No research has examined childbirth from a national perspective among females emancipating from foster care. The present study fills this gap by: (1) documenting the rates of initial and repeat births among females ages 17 and 19 in a national prospective study and (2) identifying risk and protective factors at age 17 that predict childbirth between ages 17 and 19. Methods This study used data from the National Youth in Transition Database and Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System to identify risk and protective factors associated with childbirth in a national sample of transition-age female youth (N …


Lights, Camera, Action: The Images Of Foster Care In The Movies, Ariel Alvarez Jan 2017

Lights, Camera, Action: The Images Of Foster Care In The Movies, Ariel Alvarez

Department of Political Science and Law Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Movies often reflect public perceptions. The portrayal of foster care in movies provides insight regarding beliefs and attitudes children, parents, and others bring with them as they interact with the foster care system. The study focus was to identify images of foster care portrayed in 37 nondocumentary movies produced in the United States and Canada between 1921 and 2012. Using Framing Theory, an iterative review process was used to derive three dominant images presented to audiences: child entrance into foster care, a broken foster care system, and life in foster care. Movie images generally misrepresented the realities of foster care …


Relationships Between Delinquency And Substance Use Among Adolescents Emancipating From Foster Care, Svetlana Shpiegel, Jamey J. Lister, Richard Isralowitz May 2016

Relationships Between Delinquency And Substance Use Among Adolescents Emancipating From Foster Care, Svetlana Shpiegel, Jamey J. Lister, Richard Isralowitz

Department of Social Work and Child Advocacy Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Adolescents emancipating from foster care exhibit high rates of both delinquency and substance use, although it is less clear how these behaviors relate to one another. We aimed to examine the reciprocal relationships between these risk behaviors while accounting for relevant child welfare factors. We use data from the Multi-Site Evaluation of Foster Youth Programs to explore longitudinal associations between delinquent behaviors and substance use (tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana) among youths ages 17 and 18 (N = 429). Delinquency at age 17 was a positive predictor of substance use at age 18, after controlling for baseline use of substances. …


A Critical Analysis Of Foster Youth Advisory Boards In The United States, Bradley Forenza, Robin G. Happonen Feb 2016

A Critical Analysis Of Foster Youth Advisory Boards In The United States, Bradley Forenza, Robin G. Happonen

Department of Social Work and Child Advocacy Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Background: The enactment of the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Act brought welcome attention to young people aging out of foster care, and sought to include them in both case planning and policy dialog. Foster Youth Advisory Boards help to promote such inclusion, though the implementation of those boards has not been formally analyzed. Objective: This critical analysis of foster youth advisory boards in the United States answers the following questions: (1) What/where are each of the Youth Advisory Boards in the United States? (2) How is each board implemented? (3) How would a young person aging out of …


Resilience Among Older Adolescents In Foster Care: The Impact Of Risk And Protective Factors, Svetlana Shpiegel Feb 2016

Resilience Among Older Adolescents In Foster Care: The Impact Of Risk And Protective Factors, Svetlana Shpiegel

Department of Social Work and Child Advocacy Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This study explores the phenomenon of resilience among older adolescents in foster care. Data from 351 youths approaching the age of emancipation were examined. Resilience was measured by a composite score combining six domains: educational attainment, and avoidance of teen pregnancy, homelessness, mental illness, substance use and criminal involvement. Increased physical abuse, a history of sexual abuse, placement instability and delinquency in youths’ original families were associated with lower resilience. Non-white race was associated with higher resilience even after risk and protective factors were controlled. These findings highlight factors that contribute to resilient functioning and may be targeted for interventions …


Family Preservation And Healthy Outcomes For Pregnant And Parenting Teens In Foster Care: The Inwood House Theory Of Change, Lisa D. Lieberman, Linda Lausell Bryant, Keneca Boyce Jan 2015

Family Preservation And Healthy Outcomes For Pregnant And Parenting Teens In Foster Care: The Inwood House Theory Of Change, Lisa D. Lieberman, Linda Lausell Bryant, Keneca Boyce

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Teens in foster care give birth at more than twice the rate of other teens in the United States. Significant challenges exist for these most vulnerable teens and their babies. To preserve teens’ families, programs and services need to be able to improve teens’ prospects for parenting success, delay subsequent pregnancies, and reduce intergenerational placement in care. The Inwood House theory of change for pregnant and parenting teens is a roadmap for providing the range and types of services that have the potential to improve outcomes for these most vulnerable families. The theory of change builds on insights and data …


Pregnant Teens In Foster Care: Concepts, Issues, And Challenges In Conducting Research On Vulnerable Populations, Lisa D. Lieberman, Linda L. Bryant, Kenece Boyce, Patricia Beresford May 2014

Pregnant Teens In Foster Care: Concepts, Issues, And Challenges In Conducting Research On Vulnerable Populations, Lisa D. Lieberman, Linda L. Bryant, Kenece Boyce, Patricia Beresford

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Teens in foster care give birth at over twice the rate of other teens. Unique challenges exist for these vulnerable teens and babies, yet research on such populations, particularly within the systems that serve them, is limited. A demonstration project at Inwood House, a residential foster care agency in New York City, from 2000 to 2005, at the same time that the Administration for Children's Services was exploring policy and practice changes for this population, is described. Research design and implementation issues, descriptive data, and experiences provide lessons for improving the evidence base to meet the needs of pregnant teens …