Social Work Commons^™

Internalizing A Social Justice Identity Through Hip Hop Values In The Beats, Rhymes, And Life Academy : A Project Based Upon An Investigation At Beats, Rhymes And Life, Alfredo E. Laris

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This mixed method study investigates how the Beats, Rhymes, and Life Academy helps its members subvert systems of oppression. Through a quantitative survey and a qualitative 1.5-hour semi-structured interview, participants assessed their experience with social justice activism while in the BRL Academy. The study outlined three ways subversion of systemic oppression occurs: by developing one’s feeling of individual agency and empowerment to achieve one’s goals, developing a social justice identity, and empowering their community with the use of the first two factors.

The study found that Academy members felt like they had developed their own strength and were more aware …

A Clinical Response To A Community Issue : Exploring Hartford's Youth Exposure To Community Violence In A Community-Based Agency, Alicia M. Mamula

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

The purpose of this study was to explore what clinicians and managers at a Hartford, Connecticut community-based mental health agency are doing to integrate an effective collaboration between micro, mezzo, and macro level interventions to help youth clients residing in Hartford build competent communities. Fellin, (as cited in Hardcastle, 2011) defined a competent community as “one that has the ability to respond to a wide range of member needs and solve its problems and challenges of daily living” (p.96). Given the increased rate of community violence in Hartford in 2015, this research is especially important because the majority of clients …

Adult Adoptees And Considerations Of Parenthood : An Exploratory Study Examining Adoption Experiences And Effects, Katherine E. Green

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This exploratory, qualitative study sought to investigate how the experience of adoption affects an adoptee’s decision to start a family (or not). One reason to conduct this study was to isolate a particular developmental stage – entering parenthood – to observe deliberations related to the experience of being adopted. This study adds to the limited but growing body of research dedicated to adult adoptees with the aim of assisting clinicians in the field of social work to enhance their knowledge about the experiences of adopted people, especially those who are considering starting a family.

The study was conducted by interviewing …

Toxic Stress : Exploring Mental Health Narratives Of Environmental Justice In Richmond, California, Elizabeth Gonzalez

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

The purpose of this exploratory study was to gather narratives of residents and/or community members who perceive the presence of the Richmond Chevron Oil Refinery in their community as a psychological stressor. The study used semi-structured interviews with eight community organizers and activists to gather qualitative data providing personal accounts of the possible psychological impact of living near a toxic facility with great political power in the city. The common trend among the narratives was the tendency of the participants to focus on a macro interpretation of how mental health is affected by a corporate giant. A collective sense of …

Holocaust Narratives : Exploration Of The Emotional Impact Of Disclosure Status Among First, Second, And Third Generation Holocaust Survivors, April M. Christman

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

The current study explored the possible relationship between disclosure of Holocaust related narratives and emotional well-being among Holocaust survivors as well as children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors. This study further considered how methods of disclosure and number of disclosure methods used related to emotional wellbeing and overall benefit or harm of the disclosure experience among first, second, and third generation Holocaust survivors. A sample of 147 Holocaust survivors and descendants completed an online survey consisting of Likert scales to rate the perceived benefit or harm of their disclosure experience and opportunities to offer narrative describing their disclosure experience. Three …

Levels Of Perceived Stress Among Clinicians Who Work With Client Suicidal Behavior With An Organizational Context, Elyse A.S. Chastain

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This quantitative study set out to explore the relationship between clinicians’ levels of stress and perceptions of agency or organizational support when working with clients exhibiting suicidal behaviors, attempts or completed suicide, known throughout this thesis as client suicidal behavior (CSB). It is well documented in the literature that clinicians experience a range of personal and professional reactions when working with CSB that, if left unacknowledged, can have negative implications for clinicians, clients and the agency or organization at large. With the theoretical underpinning of person in the environment, the reciprocity between an individual and their environment can be understood. …

Social Work Professional Ethics, As Affected By The Concept Of The Wounded Healer : An Investigation Into The Gatekeeping Practice Of Clinical Social Work Supervision, Cristina B. Bloom

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

The objective of this exploratory qualitative study was to assess how the field of social work currently maintains and preserves professional social work ethics in the clinical practice field. This study sought to understand how, in a field where the self is one of the main tools utilized, the field ensures that the practitioner’s self is fit to practice and to do so ethically. This is of particular significance in a field that research indicates that high percentages of people are attracted to because of challenging personal life experiences (Lackie, 1982; Marsh, 1988; Vincent, 1996). More specifically, this study centered …

Self-Shock : The Experience Of Individuals Relocating Within The United States, Michelle Mieko Kaiulani Daggett

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This qualitative study explored the experience of relocation on self-identity. More specifically, this study focused on the concept of self-shock, the idea that being in a foreign environment impacts an individual’s ability to maintain a consistent identity. This research was based on 12 interviews that were conducted via video-conferencing call or in-person with individuals who have relocated domestically for the first time within the United States. The findings of this study suggest that individuals relocating domestically within the United States can and do experience self-shock. One reason for conducting this study is because relocating is commonplace within the United States …

Exploring Sexual Assault Prevention And Education Programs On College Campuses, Anastacia Marie Webb

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This exploratory study was undertaken to better understand the sexual assault prevention and education programming currently in place on college campuses. Additionally, this study sought to understand barriers to implementing programming and the impact that the recent national attention on sexual assault has had on this work. Ten professionals who are involved in sexual assault prevention programming on college campuses were interviewed using semi-structured interviewing. Participants were from a variety of educational settings across the country. This study found that the biggest obstacles faced in implementing preventive programming are a lack of time and money, with an overwhelming need for …

Farm Work As Treatment For Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Mindy L. Walls

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This exploratory, descriptive study assessed what, if anything, is beneficial about engaging in agricultural work, or, farm work, for individuals living with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). An anonymous, online survey was utilized, asking a series of multiple choice and open ended questions about the participants’ farm work history, PTSD experience, and demographic information. Thirty-nine participants responded with varying identities and work history, but many shared experiences of PTSD. Almost all of the participants found farming to be beneficial for managing PTSD. Specifically, four themes arose from the data that explained what about farming was beneficial for individuals with PTSD: farming …

I Googled. "How Do You Know You're Gay?" : A Qualitative Study On Lgbtq Identity Formation And The Internet /, Rebekah M. Meresman

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This qualitative, exploratory study examined the impact of the internet on the identity formation process of LGBTQ individuals. This study aimed to answer the question: How and why do some LGBTQ-identified adults use the internet as a tool to formulate their sexual/gender identity? Through an anonymous online survey, LGBTQ identified participants were asked several open-ended questions about their identity formation experiences, and the role of the internet on this process.

Fifty individuals participated in the study, from a wide range of sexual and gender identities, half of which identified as transgender or gender non-conforming. Of these participants, most indicated that …

What Would Increase The Accessibility And Desirability Of College Counseling Services For Music Majors Presenting With Various Mental Health Issues?, David J. Winston

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

Based on the perceptions of 11 college counselors interviewed at 5 private universities and music conservatories throughout New England, this qualitative research study examined the accessibility and desirability of college counseling services for music majors presenting with mental health issues. Findings suggested that the desirability of college counseling services would increase if there were more outreach and advertisements toward music majors from counseling centers. Participants reported that more flexible hours and increase in staff to accommodate the unique needs of music majors would be the solution to improving accessibility. An unexpected finding in this study was reported instructor abuse of …

"The Most Badass Thing I'Ve Ever Done" : Experiences Of Transgender And Gender Non-Conforming Birth Parents, Lauren Ambrosini

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

To most people, the ability to carry and bear children is one that is inextricably linked with femininity and womanhood. However, some individuals who gestate and give birth to a child do not identify as women or as feminine. At the forefront of disentangling these two concepts from pregnancy and birth are gender non-conforming individuals, including masculine identified women, transgender men, and folks who identify as outside the gender binary of man/woman, who have chosen to carry and bear children. Beyond the narratives of a few well known transmen (e.g., Thomas Beatie) and masculine-of-center lesbians (e.g., A.K. Summers) who have …

Navigating A Paradoxical Identity : The Experiences Of Mixed Race Individuals Who Are Perceived As White, Marcella Emily Galvez Wagner

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This qualitative exploratory study examines the experiences of mixed race individuals who are perceived as White by others based on physical appearance. Literature on the mixed race population has only more recently focused on the phenomenon of racial misrecognition, or the incongruence between racial identity and racial perception by others. This study seeks to advance this literature by exploring the experiences of individuals who have a particular form of racial misrecognition where they hold a non-dominant racial identity and yet are perceived as White by others. The study explored racial identity, racial markers, disclosure and passing, family context, experiences of …

Moral Injury In Veterans : A Theoretical Investigation Of The Psychic, Moral And Social Sequelae Of War Trauma, Sarah C. Towers

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

Although the idea that a violation of deeply held moral and ethical values can result in a profound psychic, social and spiritual wounding is an ancient one, the exploration of the phenomenon of moral injury in the field of mental health has only recently gained traction. Moral injury is increasingly being regarded as its own psychological phenomenon, one that shares symptomology with PTSD, but is also distinct, and as yet not sufficiently accounted for in current PTSD criteria. This theoretical thesis charts the evolving clinical construct of moral injury and draws on two bodies of theory, narrative theory and adult …

Adoption And The Use Of Self-Disclosure : A Qualitative Inquiry Of The Clincial Professional, Heather L. Smith-Jackson

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

One of the intentional purposes of this study was to expand upon the limited research that is offered from a clinical perspective regarding self disclosure, but with a concentration on adopted mental health professionals. This study: explored the nature of therapeutic relationship, investigated continued controversial topic of self disclosure and explored specifically adoption identity formation and self disclosure grounded in social constructivism.

Twelve female participants who identified as mental health professionals completed in person interviews. The goal was to recruit 16 participants evenly divided between clinicians who were adopted and non adopted. However because of limitations, the sample consisted of …

Art As A Clinical Tool In The Treatment Of Complex Ptsd : A Theoretical Study, Emma T. Brenner-Malin

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This theoretical thesis explores how art-making can be used as a clinical tool in social worker’s psychodynamic treatment of complex post-traumatic stress disorder. A theoretical thesis was chosen in order to address the gap in the social work literature discussing the integration of creative action into trauma-informed care. D.W. Winnicott’s object relations theory and Trauma-informed art therapy theory are the two theoretical lenses applied and discussed. A review of the literature indicates that art created during therapy can function as a transitional object, facilitating the client’s ability to learn how to regulate their affect, recall dissociated affect and memories, bolster …

An Exploration Of Romantic Adult Attachment, Marital Satisfaction And Parenting Stress In Couples Participating In The Supporting Father Involvement Program, Sarah T. Robins

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

Over the years attachment theory and research have provided frameworks for understanding infant attachment and adult attachment. More recently, the phenomenon of romantic attachment between couples has been examined. The current mixed-methods study investigates the relationship between romantic adult attachment, marital satisfaction, and parenting stress in partners participating in the Supporting Father Involvement Program. Quantitative and qualitative results indicate that there is an association between adult attachment styles, marital satisfaction, and parenting stress. More specifically, fearful insecurities in mothers are associated with more parenting stress while secure attachments in mothers are connected to more satisfaction in the marital relationship. Fathers …

Therapists' Experiences Treating Clients With Dissociative Identity Disorder, Alexandra E. Paull

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

The purpose of this exploratory study was to collect qualitative data to examine what social workers describe as their experience working with clients who fit the diagnosis of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). This study interviewed twelve licensed therapists through in person, phone, and skype interviews. These interviews explored the experience of their clinical work and its impact on them personally. Seven major themes were identified from coding the narrative data: the challenges and rewards of treatment, characteristics of the population, characteristics of the clinicians, treatment structure, what treating their first client with this disorder was like, misconceptions, and places current …

Exploring Clinicians' Use Of Evidence-Based Interventions That Treat Attachment Problems Between Children, Five Years Of Age And Under, And Their Primary Caregivers, Jean Faucher

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This exploratory quantitative study was an attempt to address the dearth of research regarding the use of attachment-focused evidence-based treatments (AF EBT) in the clinical setting. Thirty-eight Master’s level or higher licensed mental health clinicians who work with children that are five years old and under, as well as with their primary caregivers, were surveyed via an anonymous web based questionnaire. The survey explored clinicians’ level of awareness, training, use, adaptation, and perceived effectiveness regarding four AF EBTs, as well as potential barriers that may have impeded their use. The AF EBTs were Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP), Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-UP …

What Does The 'Q' Stand For Anyway? : Queerness And Agency Competence, Eleanor C. Taylor

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This exploratory study’s purpose was to explore queer identity in mental health practice through the question, "Does queerness emerge as a distinct cultural category through the language of conversation, clinical practice, and administrative policy in mental health agencies that serve queer people, and in what practices is this reflected?” This project was undertaken in order to begin to fill gaps in existing cultural competence literature, particularly regarding queer identity.

This project entailed semi-structured interviews with ten participants, who worked in direct service at mental health agencies that serve LGBTQIA+ populations. This study examines the meanings and effects of queerness in …

The Applicability Of William E. Cross’S Model Of Black Identity Development And Vivienne Cass’S Model Of Lesbian/Gay Identity Formation To The Experience Of Black Lesbians, Lisa Lynelle Moore

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

The purpose of this research was to explore the applicability of William E. Cross' Black identity development model and Vivienne Cass' model of lesbian/ gay identity formation to the experience of Black lesbians. Through evaluating their applicability the experience of identity integration was addressed in the experience of Black lesbians whose intersections of identity may conflict within a predominately heterosexual Black community and in the visible lesbian community which is often perceived as predominately White.

Through using an interview guide comprised of ten open-ended questions developed by the researcher, sixteen women between the ages of nineteen and forty-nine participated in …

The Effect Of Movie Portrayals Of Therapy And Therapists On College Students' View Of Therapy And Therapists, Karin Perlman

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This study was undertaken to explore the effects of movie portrayals of therapy and therapists on the public's view of therapy and therapists. lt was hypothesized that much of the information that forms individuals' views of therapy comes from the media, specifically the portrayals they see in movies.

To explore to what extent subjects felt their impressions of therapy and therapists were informed by movies and by other sources, volunteers were enlisted to fill out questionnaires. The questionnaire asked subjects to identify and then describe the sources of information that they felt have formed their understanding of therapy and therapists. …

Whose Daughter Are You? : Exploring Identity Issues Of Lesbians Who Are Adopted : A Project Based Upon An Independent Investigation, Anne Mi Ok Bruining

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

No abstract provided.

Experience Of Stigmatization And Discrimination Of Former Psychiatric Inpatients, Amy Rappaport

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

In our culture as well as other cultures, there are social norms that are prescribed and expected to be followed. If an individual does not act in accordance with these social norms, there are often consequences. In Edgerton's (1971) article, "Anthropology, Psychiatry, and Man's Nature," he states, "Sometimes, of course, the sanctions against deviant behavior are supernatural, consisting of immediate and horrible punishment by gods, spirits, ancestors or the like" (p. 45). In present day culture in the United States, the researcher contends that there are both traditional and modern belief systems that serve to ostracize the stigmatized deviant.

An Exploratory Study Of Men In The Anti-Abortion Movement: A Project Based Upon An Independent Investigation, Laura E. Sabatini

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This study was undertaken to examine the characteristics and possible motivations of male anti-abortion activists. Specifically, this study explored the following questions:

1. How is the intense dedication of these men to the anti-abortion movement related to their perceptions of current societal structures? Do they experience legalized abortion as a threat to their external world views?

2. How is their behavior related to them as individuals, with unique gender role ideology? Do they experience legalized abortion as a threat to their internal world views?

3. Is their behavior related to an internal character rigidity separate from apparent beliefs and values? …

Clinical Dilemmas And Countertransference Reactions For Therapists Of Pre-Operative Transexual Clients, Rachel Lynne Wichman

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

An exploratory study was undertaken to examine the clinical dilemmas that are inherent to working with a pre operative transsexual population, and associated countertransference reactions. Interviews were conducted with twelve therapists who had treated pre-operative transsexual clients. The interviews revealed that three clinical dilemmas were significantly referred to by the subjects as they described their countertransference reactions—diagnostic considerations, the therapists' clinical role in treatment of transsexual clients, and therapists' traditional sex role conditioning. The findings indicated that countertransference reactions for therapists working with pre-operative transsexual clients were an outgrowth of the clinical dilemmas found in treating this client population.

A Study Of Forty Problem Children Of Sephardic Extraction, To Determine The Special Problems They Present To A Jewish Agency And To Discover Methods Of Dealing With These Problems, Lucille Shyev

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

No abstract provided.