Social Work Commons^™

Guide To The Alice Pettee Adams Collection, 1880-1990, Orson Kingsley

Archives & Special Collections Finding Aids

Alice Pettee Adams came from Jaffrey, New Hampshire when she enrolled at the Bridgewater Normal School (now Bridgewater State University) in 1885. She graduated from the four-year program in 1889. In 1891, after a brief stint as a teacher and principal of a high school in her hometown, she went to Okayama, Japan through a Christian Missionary program. She originally had the ambition of dedicating ten years of her life to this social work/education endeavor. Rather than ten years, she went on to dedicate the rest of her life to helping the poor and impoverished in Okayama, Japan.

By the …

What Works? A Qualitative Exploration Of Play Therapy For Children In Pediatric Oncology, Caitlyn Dorsey

Honors Program Theses and Projects

This qualitative phenomenological study seeks to understand the use and perceived effectiveness of play interventions for patients with socio-emotional issues brought about by their treatment of pediatric cancer by exploring the perceptions of nine Certified Child Life Specialists and one Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker who works with this population. Interviews, done over Zoom with each participant, were semi-structured, and between thirty minutes to an hour in length. Questions asked explored what socio-emotional issues they see develop in their patients throughout their treatment, and their perceived effectiveness of play in mitigating those socio-emotional issues. After transcription nof each interview analysis …

Calling Attention To Campus Trends: Let’S Talk About Wellness, Mandy Magalhaes, Rachel Cullity

The Graduate Review

Abstract

This article explores the emerging focus on self-care and wellness amongst college students. In this article, the authors highlight the cultural shift from the “grind culture,” the complete and exhaustive dedication towards one’s work, to a focus on individual and community well being and how educational institutions are responding to students’ needs (Absher, 2020). Bridgewater State University's current response to student wellness is discussed, with a focus on the School of Social Work’s research efforts, programs and services being implemented, from the voices of graduate students. Self-care and wellness is an emerging conversation occurring in many professions and educational …

On The Cover Artist’S Statement For Living Outside The Binary

The Graduate Review

No abstract provided.

Supporting Indigenous Women And Enhancing Cultural Humility And Competent Practice: An Ethnographic Approach

The Graduate Review

No abstract provided.

The Epidemic Of Missing And Murdered Indigenous Women And Girls (Mmiwg) In North America

The Graduate Review

No abstract provided.

Food Insecurity Among Those Living With Mental Illness In Massachusetts

The Graduate Review

No abstract provided.

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.

Experiences Of Transgender Adults Navigating Healthcare Access In Massachusetts, Nic Tompkins-Hughes

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Recent research studies regarding Transgender individuals’ experiences of discrimination in health care settings strongly recommend the value of qualitative data, and the need for research into how transgender patients find, obtain, and access medical care, preventatively and as needed. However, despite calls for qualitative data, limited qualitative studies have focused on medical access and experiences of transgender patients as of 2019. This exploratory qualitative study utilized semi-structured qualitative interviews conducted between May 27^th, 2019 through August 10^th, 2019 to ask about the experiences of transgender individuals as it pertains to accessing health care services in Massachusetts. …

Diversity And Social Justice In The Massachusetts Classroom: Teachers Implementation And Students Reflections, Josephine Ciatto

Honors Program Theses and Projects

As public school classrooms have become increasingly diverse and complex, the curriculummust reflect this to prepare students for their futures. When shaping the curriculum that ourstudents receive, it is important to ensure a well rounded, multicultural education even if theclassroom itself does not reflect a diverse community. This qualitative and quantitative, mixedmethod research study looked at the Massachusetts state guidelines concerning diversityeducation and compared it to what teachers say they are implementing in the classroom as wellas with what students say they learned. This mixed method design includes teacher surveys (n=78), teacher interviews (n=4), and student surveys (n=289). The student …

Quality Of Life Among Transgender And Gender Non-Conforming

The Graduate Review

No abstract provided.

Safe Injection Sites: Existing Evidence And Implications For Massachusetts

The Graduate Review

No abstract provided.

Vaping: The 21st Century Cigarette? What The Cigarette Smoking Generation Thinks Of The Vaping Generation, Alyssa Jusseaume

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Vaping has become an epidemic among high school aged youth as increases in adolescent vaping from 2017 to 2018 were the largest ever recorded in the past 43 years for any adolescent substance use outcome in the United States. Since vaping is a relatively new trend, more research is needed to understand this issue. The purpose of this study was to investigate parents’ attitude towards teens in grades 6-12 vaping and to explore what factors impact their perception of it. Parents of children who are in grades 6-12 were invited to complete a brief survey using the platform Qualtrics. 57 …

Growing Social Connection: A Case Study Of A Therapeutic Farm Community, Theresa Aldrich

Honors Program Theses and Projects

This is a case study of a single therapeutic farm community with the goal of understanding the community as a whole organization. Therapeutic farm communities are largely under researched. The studies that do exist focus on evaluating client outcomes without adequate description of the organizations which produce the outcomes. To provide an in depth description of the therapeutic farm community which was selected for this case study, ethnographic research methods were utilized. Data analysis was conducted as an inductive process, drawing conclusions from coded and organized ethnographic field notes using postmodernism as a theoretical lens. This guided the interpretation of …

Understanding Educators’ Perceptions Of Mindfulness On Students’ Academic Skills, Behavior, And Overall Well-Being, Sara E. Gottfried

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Research indicates that academic performance and social and emotional well-being are fundamentally interrelated (Schonert-Reichl, Oberle, Lawlor, Abbott, Thomson, Oberlander, & Diamond, 2015). Given that 13-20% of children in the United States experience social and emotional challenges, schools are required to attend to the social, emotional, and behavioral needs of students (Maynard, Solis, Miller, & Brendel, 2017). However, students are often unequipped with the skills to effectively cope with stress and resort to behaviors that cause emotional, mental, and physical suffering, all of which thwart the learning process (Schonert-Reichl et al., 2015). Schools warrant interventions that support the whole student, given …

Conceptualizing Allyship As An Actionable Construct In Higher Education, Shannon Radford

Honors Program Theses and Projects

This research intends to re-conceptualize allyship as an actionable construct. Previous research conducted on allyship primarily focuses on development and motivation. Although action is often identified as a component of allyship, previous research has only briefly touched upon this topic. In such a tumultuous political climate, this gap in research is distressing. With hate groups on the rise, it has become increasingly important for allyship to become synonymous with action. As institutions of higher education can play a crucial role in providing an actionable definition of allyship and fostering it in campus communities, this study focuses on identifying actions exhibited …

Understanding The Impact Of Childhood Sexual Abuse On Men’S Risk Behavior: Protocol For A Mixed-Methods Study, Martin J. Downing Jr., Dominique Brown, Jeffrey Steen, Ellen Benoit

Social Work Faculty Publications

Background: Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) remains a critical public health issue among black and Latino men who have sex with men (MSM), as it is associated with multiple negative outcomes including substance misuse, poor mental health, revictimization, and high-risk sexual behavior. Most CSA research with MSM relies on quantitative assessment that often precludes consideration of cultural variations in how formative sexual experiences are understood and is based on inconsistent or overly restrictive definitions of abuse, and therefore may fail to detect certain abusive experiences (eg, those involving female perpetrators), which can have harmful health consequences if they remain unrecognized. …

Preterm Birth And Infant Mortality Among African American And Caucasian Women: A Critique Of The Systematic Devaluing Of African American Women And Infants, Catherine E. Cooper

The Graduate Review

Health disparities are a persistent reality for minority groups in the United States with serious, and sometimes lethal, consequences. The disparate rates of preterm births and infant mortality between African-American and Caucasian women is a well-documented but largely unaddressed occurrence falling into this category. The complex systems that contribute to the perpetuation of this health disparity are explored with particular attention to the intersection of race, culture and socioeconomic status. The influence of personal health beliefs and often-over-emphasized role of behavior are also investigated in an effort to examine why there has been an inadequate response to this problem in …

Determinants Of Health Disparities Among African And Caucasian Americans With Chronic Kidney Disease, Renal Cell Carcinoma, And End-Stage Renal Disease, Kathleen Cosgrove

The Graduate Review

Many studies have confirmed the disparity that black patients have an increased prevalence of severely impaired kidney function compared to whites. Without dialysis, or a kidney transplant, chronic kidney disease will progress to a fatal prognosis of end-stage kidney failure. The most common type of kidney cancer, renal cell carcinoma, occurs most often in adult males, age 50-70. Diabetes and hypertension are two of the most determinant factors of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in the United States, which most often develops following a chronic kidney disease (CKD) diagnosis. The poor are most susceptible to disease due to high risk community …

Disparities In U.S. Elementary And Secondary Public Education, Myhanh D. Barrette

The Graduate Review

Educational disparities in America’s elementary and secondary public education are illustrated by official statistics on school readiness in young children, per pupil expenditures, high school graduation rates, standardized test scores, advanced courses enrollment, high school dropout rates, school disciplinary actions, and college entrance and completion rates. The astounding disproportionate difference in achievement (or lack thereof) between Black and minority students compared to their White counterparts raises alarming concerns regarding two important aspects of public education: equal access and equal quality. This paper attempts to understand our society’s view of education throughout the nation’s history in order to analyze important public …

School Based Mental Health Provider Study, Amanda Dellea

Honors Program Theses and Projects

School Based Mental Health Providers (SBMHPs) provide mental health treatment in school settings for grade school students between Kindergarten through twelfth grade. They are tasked with helping to remove barriers in students’ lives that might otherwise prevent them from achieving academic success. Depending on state and licensure requirements different SBMHP are used. This study was conducted to gain a better understanding of the differences among SBMHP participants in regards to their licensure, years of experience, and number of schools they work in simultaneously. An online survey of SBMHPs was employed in order to compare differences in engagement with students, teachers, …

Most Effective Intervention For Adolescent Substance Use Disorder, Nichole Anderson

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Substance use disorder affects numerous adolescents and researching the most effective intervention is crucial to the rehabilitation of these individuals. This purpose of this study is to offer information about the prevalence of substance use in adolescents as well as the interventions that are available to them and to outline the most effective methods of these interventions. This paper includes a review of evidence based interventions of multiple interventions that are currently used to treat adolescents with substance use disorder and a qualitative study of five individuals who work in social service agencies that offer treatment and interventions to adolescents …

Examining The Term Transgender In Attitude Studies, Amanda Constant

Honors Program Theses and Projects

The purpose of this study is to review the consistency of definitions used for the term transgender in instruments for studies measuring attitudes towards transgender individuals. Scales and measurements used to examine attitudes towards individuals that identify as transgender often do not include a clear definition of the term. There is a lack of consensus on the definition of the term transgender if a definition is presented at all. This is a threat to the validity of attitude studies and perpetuates confusion through misinformation, or lack of information. The rate of discrimination and violence this population faces is distressing. In …

Determining Diesel Education In Urban Middle Schools In Eastern Massachusetts, Julianne Hooper

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Previously conducted studies have illuminated evidence that diesel exhaust emission rates are rising in the United States. Rising diesel exhaust emission rates bring more than a higher concentration of particulate matter in the air. Health complications from breathing in the particles of diesel exhaust place all citizens at risk. However, not everyone is equally at risk. Evidence has suggested children are particularly vulnerable to encountering health obstacles that can be caused by inhaling, these particles. This is due to a smaller lung capacity which requires children to breathe more frequently, their cardiovascular and respiratory systems still being in the developmental …

Transition To Independence: Supportive Relationships With Care Takers And Its Role On Success And Independence With Former Foster Care Youth, Jasmin Vasconcelos

Honors Program Theses and Projects

According to Geenen & Powers (2007), youth transition into adulthood from foster care with little to no assistance from support systems, including family. Through in-depth qualitative interviews, this study explores the experiences and insights of young adults, ages 18-25 years old, previously in the care of the Massachusetts Department of Children & Families (DCF). The primary goal of this research is to determine the importance of building supportive relationships between social workers and youth in foster care to better equip youth for independence and success after care. The findings revealed five major themes: care takers as support systems, preparedness for …

Harmful Or Helpful? Direct To Consumer Advertising, Sally A. Kiss

The Graduate Review

Policy change in 1997 by the Food and Drug Administration made the United States only one of two countries to allow direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA). DTCA refers to the promotion of prescription medications through media directly to consumers as opposed to distribution of information only medical professionals. Supporters argue that DTCA educates consumers and helps them to make more informed decisions about their health care. On the other side, opponents argue that it leads to otherwise healthy people believing they are sick, thereby increasing profits for pharmaceutical companies. After reviewing the history of DTCA and literature demonstrating the pros and cons …

Bridgewater State University Students’ Perceptions Of Undocumented Immigrants, Christina Minich

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Undocumented immigration is a hot-topic discussion in the United States and among students at Bridgewater State University. The perceptions students have may impact future policies, how undocumented immigrants are treated, and the overall cultural competency of the country. This study examines the perceptions students at Bridgewater State University have about undocumented immigrants and if a number of demographic variables affect their opinions and beliefs. In this study, a total of 236 undergraduate students at Bridgewater State University participated in an online survey. The survey results demonstrated that students’ political party, major in college, and year at Bridgewater State University impact …

Poverty Measurement: A Social Work Perspective, Katelyn David

Honors Program Theses and Projects

The purpose of this study is to determine the information given to BSW students about poverty measurement and alternative measures via standard social work textbooks. Poverty measurement is rarely discussed in the national conversation about poverty in the United States. The poverty rate, guidelines and threshold are regularly used by policy makers and communicated to the public, but the formulas behind the calculations of these measures are not well known. The calculations of these measures are based on outdated assumptions and have not been updated in more than half a century. This study presents a literature review on poverty measurement …

Beating South Africa's Endless Plague: Making Life Easier For Hiv/Aids Orphans, Shannon Garrity

Honors Program Theses and Projects

There are many modern beauties on this earth, including the incredible power of twenty-first century science and technology. But, due to many socio-economic injustices and current wars, these modern ‘beauties’ do not reach everyone. The spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa is a pertinent example of a social and public health issue disabling millions of people from obtaining their basic necessities. Although South Africa is the richest country on the African continent, it continues to contain the highest number of people diagnosed with HIV/AIDS worldwide. One out of five adults is diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in South Africa; this has left over …

Self-Reflections Of A Gay Immigrant Social Worker, Jonghyun Lee, Kate Willow Robinson

Social Work Faculty Publications

Social workers strive to end various forms of social injustice that cause the marginalization of people and their suffering. One way to dismantle social injustice is to engage in a self-reflective process. As a form of self-discovery, self-reflection guides us to recognize our own experiences of privilege and power as well as inequality and oppression. In this article, I utilize intersectionality as a method of self-reflection to examine the ways race/ethnicity, sexuality, and immigration status intersect and create a particular form of vulnerability. Making private experiences public takes courage. Nevertheless, through self-reflection, I reinforce my moral and ethical commitment to …