Social Work Commons^™

The Interlinkage Between Blood Plasma Donation And Poverty In The United States, Analidis Ochoa, H. Luke Shaefer, Andrew Grogan-Kaylor

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In 2019, plasma centers in the United States received a record 53.5 million blood donations, roughly triple that collected during the Great Recession. Recent ethnographic research and journalistic accounts connect plasma sales and poverty, an association that would carry important public health implications given the vulnerability of disadvantaged populations. This study is the first to examine a range of socioeconomic characteristics of communities where commercial plasma centers situate. We geocode locations of all U.S. commercial plasma centers and merge with census tract demographic data from the American Community Survey. Findings indicate greater odds that plasma centers will locate in urban …

Addressing The Needs Of African American Grandparents: An Intersectionality Perspective, Dorothy Smith-Ruiz, Kendra Jason

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study seeks to demonstrate the intersecting structural and compounding challenges African American custodial grandparents experience collectively, rather than as separate non-competing factors, which has been modeled in prior studies. Using a mixed-method research design, the study explored the challenges faced by African American and white custodial grandparents. These challenges included difficulties attaining different types of support, respite care, and programs for teens and special needs grandchildren. Results showed that caregiving challenges among African Americans were more pervasive than their White counterparts. These findings have significant implications for the development of intervention programs for custodial African American grandmothers and their …

“Growing Up Guerreándola”: On Adolescent Formations Of Conscientização In Colombia, Amy E. Ritterbusch, Melissa Arena Lucía Simbaqueba Gómez, Jhon Restrepo, Nancy Montes, Claudia Rentería, Yirley Velazco, Sandra García Jaramillo, Darío Maldonado

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In this article, we argue that we have much to learn from the adolescent developmental experiences of social justice activists on the frontlines. Our team of authors includes the four youth social leaders at the center of the empirical work emerging from our qualitative research. We ground the Freirean concept of conscientização, roughly interpreted in English as critical consciousness building, in the lived experiences of these four youth social leaders in Colombia who have fought tirelessly for justice in their communities. The social justice stories of these young activists emerge from semi-structured interviews including visual methods designed by our …

Integrating Tf-Cbt And Play Therapy: Promoting Resilience In Child Sexual Assault Survivors, Shayla Polk

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Licensed social workers and counselors provide services to children who experience child sexual assault (CSA), which disrupt their normal childhood developmental processes. Trauma outcomes include symptoms related to somatization, inability to cope, feelings of helplessness, decreased self-esteem, difficulty expressing proper emotions, anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) combined with play therapy can be helpful for CSA survivors. Still, it is not yet fully understood how therapists perceive the combined approach or how it fosters resiliency in children who experience sexual assault. The purpose of this action research study was (a) to explore the experiences and perspectives …

Compassion Fatigue And Intersectionality In Human Service Practitioners: Latina Low-Wage-Earners Fighting Poverty, Marlo Greponne

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress, and vicarious trauma among professionals are well-documented within clinical settings. Human service practitioners working directly with people experiencing poverty and trauma, hunger, homelessness, victimization, and depression are considered at risk of experiencing compassion fatigue. Latina low-wage-earners may suffer compassion fatigue when handling cases mirroring their personal experiences with poverty. The purpose of this descriptive single case study was to explore marginalized workers’ experiences with compassion fatigue using intersectionality to understand what Latina low-wage-earning human service practitioners’ experiences with compassion fatigue were and what coping strategies they developed while serving people experiencing poverty. An intersectional approach …

2021 Community-Based Care: Resident And Community Characteristics Report On Assisted Living, Residential Care, And Memory Care Communities, Ozcan Tunalilar, Paula Carder, Sheryl Elliott, Jason Z. Kyler-Yano, Sarah Dys, Minju Kim, Diana Cater, Ellis Jourdan Hews

Institute on Aging Publications

This report summarizes findings from the 7th annual study of Oregon assisted living (AL) and residential care (RC) facilities, including memory care (MC) communities. The purpose of this report is to inform Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS), providers, consumers, and other interested parties about this sector of long-term services and supports (LTSS) and ensure data-informed policy decisions. The report contains information about various resident and community characteristics, including capacity and supply, resident demographics and health services use, and community services, policies, fees, and staffing. These data were collected between winter 2020 and spring 2021. This report constitutes the first …

Who Is The Stranger Really? A Reluctant Autoethnography Of The Strange Situation Procedure, Tara Yazdani

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This paper aims to review the cross-cultural application of attachment theory as a western model of thought and practice. That is, this research aimed to recognize and question how embedded attachment theory has become in programming and education within North American academic and practical arenas. In applying the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) to a limited sample of Eritrean dyads, important considerations and questions arose regarding the cross-cultural application of this protocol. The aims of this research shifted toward further exploring these considerations and questions, due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the new research aim emphasized how to inform future …

Unpredictable Paths Into Care: Examining Hiv And Ms Care Relationships In Southern Ontario, Melissa Popiel

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In Canada, we often speak of caring for others as more than a social obligation; it is part of how we conceptualize ourselves and our humanity. Family/friend relationships can become strained, however, when providing care and support for people with complex and unpredictable chronic episodic illnesses, here termed episodic care. Relational impacts may be understood as influences and impacts directly related to the relationship between the carer and family member/friend. The purpose of this study is to create a middle-range grounded theory of episodic caring based on the relational impacts of carers for people living with HIV and MS. …

Is There A Difference Between Democrat And Republican States In The Percentage Of Male High School Students Who Physically Fight On Campus?, Anthony Brown, Wayne L. Davis

Lincoln Memorial University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

School violence is a common occurrence in American high schools. Victims of school violence are more likely than others to become depressed, skip school, and commit suicide. In addition, intimidation, threats, sexual harassment, prejudice, gossip, and ridicule are serious threats to successful education. Overall, about 33% of students are bullied at school by other students, and bullying leads to fights. Because Democrats and Republicans support two different types of social learning environments that will modify the behaviors of residents within their respective jurisdictions, and because public safety is an important social issue, it is important to know if there is …

Political Partisanship And Female High School Students Who Carry Handguns, Trenton Cameron, Wayne L. Davis

Lincoln Memorial University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

The United States is a gun culture nation, and gun violence is a serious problem. Because there are more than 280 million guns in America with over 65 million handguns in circulation, the Republicans believe that there are too many guns in America to prevent criminals from illegally obtaining them. In addition, only law-abiding residents will honor gun-control laws. As a result, law-abiding residents will become defenseless, which will promote crime. Democrats, on the other hand, believe that the gun-related crime problem will never be solved until actions are taken to eliminate the availability of handguns. After all, it is …

Mental Health In College Students: Disclosure & Seeking Support, Abby R. Smargon

Honors Program Theses and Projects

A study was conducted through Bridgewater State University in order to better understand the mental health and help seeking behaviors of college students. The data collected served to provide information regarding what specific types of mental health difficulties are reported by college students.

An Ecological Approach To Improving Reentry Programs For Justice-Involved African American Men, Precious Skinner-Osei, Peter Claudius Osei

Journal of Prison Education and Reentry (2014-2023)

This article is a re-analysis of a previous study (please see https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2017.1402724). Considering the previous findings, in addition to the recent discussions around criminal justice reform, race, policing, and mental health in the United States, the data were reanalyzed using an updated version of QSR NVivo. The new findings revealed that reintegrating justice-involved African American men back into society requires reentry programs to utilize a different approach. Reentry programs must be constructed under the notion that the process involves multiple interrelated components that interact with larger systems outside the individual or organization's immediate control or organization advocating for them. …

A Mule For The Patriarchy: Waking Up To The Harm Of Prostitution To Wives And Families, Andrea Heinz

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

I exited from commercial sexual exploitation eight years ago. Here, I share my reflections on how my actions directly impacted other women. I describe how my participation in the sex trade adversely affected the wives and girlfriends of sex buyers. I posit that sex sellers negatively impact these vicarious victims by subscribing to and endorsing “sex work” ideology. I assert that the collective good of all women is diminished by viewing sexual services as a market commodity. I stress that the collective good of all women is enhanced by assuming responsibility and compassion for one another.

How Peer Support Specialists Uniquely Initiate And Build Connection With Young People Experiencing Homelessness, James Erangey, Connor Marvin, Danielle Maude Littman, Meredith Mollica, Kimberly Bender, Tom Lucas, Tara Milligan

Graduate School of Social Work: Faculty Scholarship

Young people experiencing homelessness are often apprehensive to engage in conventional service systems due to prior mistreatment by providers and others in their lives, as well as stigma associated with accessing services. Even when relationships between service providers and young people are initiated, they often end prematurely. Mutual aid, or peer-to-peer support, has a long and promising history within the mental health field, yet has received little empirical attention in work with young people experiencing homelessness. The present study used participatory qualitative methods to understand how peers uniquely initiate and build connection with young people experiencing homelessness. Through interviews and …

Seeing The Shadow Women: The Hidden Victims Of Prostitution, Donna M. Hughes

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

A group of hidden victims of prostitution has been brought to light by Ingeborg Kraus, a trauma therapist in Germany, and Andrea Heinz, a woman with experience in the sex trade in Canada. Dignity has published four articles by these two writers in the last year. Their nascent body of work is uncovering important new information and perspectives on prostitution. Through their own experience and interviews with wives of sex buyers and women with sex trade experience they show us a more holistic view of the harm of prostitution. They write about the wives and families of men who are …

"My Head Was Like A Washing Machine On Spin": (Improving) Women’S Experiences Of Accessing Support, Jo Neale, Kathryn Hodges

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

This paper draws on data collected as part of two larger studies to set out the differences, according to women seeking support, between the feminist responses of the specialist women’s sector and the issues-led responses of other agencies. The first study examined the processes by which women enter, endure, and exit relationships with abusive men. The second study explored the barriers to help-seeking for those accessing a service for women involved in prostitution. Taking a feminist poststructuralist approach, the authors point to the gendered nature, both of the experiences that propel women toward help-seeking and of the responses they receive …

Women Exiting Prostitution: Reports Of Coercive Control In Intimate Relationships, Tammy Schultz, Aimee A. Callender, Sally Schwer Canning, Jacey Collins

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

There is burgeoning research on intimate partner violence (IPV) experiences among women globally. However, there is a dearth of research on IPV experiences among marginalized populations in Western countries. Over the past decade, IPV research has shifted from a focus only on physical and sexual violence to include coercive control experiences. These include a continuum of nonviolent behaviors centered on maintaining dominance over one’s partner. However, the empirical literature on examining coercive control among women in prostitution within non-commercial intimate partners is lacking. In this study, we analyzed interviews with 17 women exiting prostitution and examined reported IPV sexual, physical, …

Disparities In Oral Health: Socioeconomic Status And Policies To Increase Access To Primary Dental Care, Mckenzie Nutter

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Primary dental care is a patient-centered service consisting of routine dental checkups. The oral cavity is the first point of entrance to the body for many harmful pathogens. Therefore, primary dental care is essential to not only prevent and treat conditions in the mouth, but to also reduce the number of systemic diseases in the rest of the body. However, people with higher incomes or wealth have increased access to primary dental care. People with low socioeconomic status have decreased access to primary dental care, at least in part due to difficulties in paying for separate dental insurance. Disparities in …

For Advocates, Raquel Magadan-Sanchez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The mission of the Court Appointed Special Advocates of Santa Cruz (CASA) program is to provide children in the foster care system a volunteer advocate who spends time with the child to ensure they are receiving the services they need (CASA of Santa Cruz County, 2019). The problem addressed is the high volume of foster children in Santa Cruz county and the three causes of the problem are substance abuse, poverty, and abuse and neglect. The consequences are how abuse affects a foster child’s mental health, what it means to be a dual-status youth (a child involved in the welfare …

The Experience Of Friendship Between Individuals With And Without An Intellectual Disability., Rebecca Clark

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Practitioners and researchers are concerned about the limited social inclusion and social networks of individuals with an Intellectual Disability (ID) (Amado, 2014; Bigby & Craig, 2017; Hall, 2010; Hardman & Clark, 2006; Knox & Hickson, 2001; McConkey & Collins, 2010; Tipton, 2011). Friendships between those with and without an ID are viewed as opportunities for greater inclusiveness with and connection to the mainstream society (Amado, 2014; Bigby & Craig, 2017; McConkey & Collins, 2010). However, little is known about the development of friendships between those with and without an ID. The purpose of this study was to fully explore the …

The Resilience Of Female Survivors Of Intimate Partner Violence In Southwest Nigeria: An Interdisciplinary Analysis, Tobi F. Oloyede

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Female survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) in Nigeria endure harsh and traumatic experiences that affect their rights as women and their well-being. As the phenomenon of IPV persists in Nigeria, it is not only a family problem but a critical social and psychological problem. This study examined Nigerian female survivors’ hidden strength, agency, and resilience, rather than their powerlessness and vulnerability. Analysis of survey questionnaires, interviews, and secondary scholarship reveals that some Nigerian female survivors of IPV are able to cope whilst navigating stressful and traumatic experiences. The results also show that survivors’ ability to thrive and cope under …

Lessons Learned While Conducting Utilization-Focused Workforce Evaluation, Robert Blagg, Michelle Graef, Cynthia F. Parry, Courtney L. Harrison

Other QIC-WD Products

The QIC-WD learned many lessons while conducting utilization-focused workforce research across eight diverse public child welfare agencies. In this brief we detail how we are chronicling natural variation (e.g., stay at home orders, hiring freezes, political will, and leadership changes), synthesizing existing data, conducting process evaluation (e.g., identifying implementation drivers), visualizing data to meet diverse stakeholder information needs, and building systems that are both flexible and sustainable.

Conflicting Identities: The Lgbtq-Jewish Identity Conflict And How The Jewish Community Is Working To Fix It, Gavin Christy, Sam Crew, Molly Klimo, Peter Sparrow

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

This work studies the identities of Jewish people who are also a part of the LGBTQ community. It examines the conflict that many LGBTQ Jews feel between these two identities and how this conflict decreases these people's involvement in the Jewish community. Looking from the Jewish community side we examine how the Jewish community has responded to this problem and how they are working to better integrate their LGBTQ members into their community.

Springboro And West Carrollton School Districts, Alex Roberts

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

Poster describes my field experiences in the Dayton-area school districts of Springboro and West Carrollton. During my time at each school, I helped students with disabilities and observed a school resource officer and her duties.

Religion War: Judaism's Impact On The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Marissa Mark, Richard Morisette, Jennifer Rosio, Jack Willerton

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict has been a major issue since 1948 when the Israelis and Palestinians engaged in a Civil War. One of the driving factors in the conflict is the religious affiliation from each side, with Jewish Israelis clashing with Muslim Palestinians. While religion has been a driving force for hostility, religion can also be seen as a beacon of hope and peace. In our research, we have found that religious affiliation from the Israeli side tends to result in more positive attitudes towards their Palestinian counterparts. In our research, we investigated three major fields: Anthropology, Psychology, and Sociology. By …

Religion And Racism In The United States, Sebastian Rawl, Kingsford Adjei

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

Through the literary analysis of eight scholarly writings, we sought to answer our research questions and were able to form hypothesis based on the evidence provided by the authors. From there, we formulated ideas on what we think can and should change in the relationship between religion and race relations.

The Political Dynamic Of The Separation Of The Islamic Church And State, Maya Drayton, Rachel Burton, Caroline Donnelly, Brianna Wolfe, Erika Cambron

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

In this project, we researched the relationship between Islam and the state. We conducted our research by using the University of Dayton databases to find different journals and articles analyzing our topic. We found that the relationship is constantly evolving and depends on where you are located. We also found that Islam has not always been properly investigated and is not as widely understood as it could be.

Hindu Views On The Environment, Katie Bardine, Sean Sullivan, Jonathan Sulzer

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

Poster explores five views that influence Hindu views on sustainability and the environment, the first of which is that the ecological consciousness is the way of living in which it respects the environment and the ecological world. A Hindu’s ecological consciousness is well constructed, as a main aspect of the religion is care for the Earth and respect for creation.

Islamophobia: An American Conundrum Spurred By Donald Trump’S Executive Order And Political Rhetoric, Mike Lawless

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

The negative rhetoric directed toward Muslims in the United States has largely been focused on Muslim refugees because it allows for a connotation that a radical group is entering the United States.

Economics And Development In Buddhism, Michaela Kendig, Elizabeth Kolb, Brett Heininger, Patrick Fath

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

Our research focused on the religious tradition, Buddhism and how the teachings and traditions of Buddhism affect work life, economics, and developmental aspects of society.

• How does Buddhism affect women’s careers?
• What developments both economic and other has Buddhism contributed?
• What’s going on in Bodh Gaya?