Social Work Commons^™

Sex Trafficking Of Transgender And Gender Nonconforming Youth In The United States, Meaghan Tomasiewicz

Center for the Human Rights of Children

There is a growing body of research from a variety of disciplines highlighting the overrepresentation of LGBTQ identified individuals among sex trafficked and commercially sexually exploited (CSE) youth. A much smaller subset of this research specifically focuses on transgender female youth. Transgender male, GNC, and intersex youth are largely excluded from the available literature. The issues and obstacles faced by the transgender and GNC communities require specialized services that are not necessarily applicable to the LGBTQ community as a whole due to population-specific healthcare, mental health, and safety factors in addition to employment discrimination, housing discrimination, and familial rejection. By …

Mothers' Perceptions Of Educational Access And Engagement In A Context Of Urban Austerity, Amy Krings, Hillary Thomas, Shawna J. Lee, Aayat Ali, Ladonna Miller

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

This study sheds light upon mothers' perceptions of educational justice in a context of austerity-based educational reforms. Focus group participants (n = 64) described local schools as lacking resources, a shortcoming that contributed to overcrowded classrooms, inadequate transportation, and safety concerns. They were skeptical of elected and appointed state and district officials, who were viewed as misrepresenting the degree of financial strain in the district in order to prioritize financial profit above education services for children. Additionally, respondents struggled to identify opportunities for parent involvement in educational policy making at a state, district, or school level. The shortage of …

Organizing Under Austerity: How Residents’ Concerns Became The Flint Water Crisis, Amy Krings, Dana Kornberg, Erin Lane

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

What might it take for politically marginalized residents to challenge cuts in public spending that threaten to harm their health and wellbeing? Specifically, how did residents of Flint, Michigan contribute to the decision of an austerity regime, which was not accountable to them, to spend millions to switch to a safe water source? Relying on evidence from key interviews and newspaper accounts, we examine the influence and limitations of residents and grassroots groups during the 18-month period between April 2014 and October 2015 when the city drew its water from the Flint River. We find that citizen complaints alone were …

Recapturing The Power Of Ritual To Enhance Community In Aging, Holly Nelson-Becker, Kimberly Sangster

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

Ritual returns us to the center of who we are. In times of transition, loss, disconnection, and loneliness, ritual offers transformative power. It can provide a language for expression, stability, serve an integrating force in community, mediate tradition, and offer emotional support. This article explores the need for ritual in coping with late life changes, the relationship of ritual to suffering, value of ritual in storytelling and mourning, and explains the role of witness facilitated through community. Therapeutic functions of ritual are addressed and a framework for ritual design is suggested.

Integrating Green Social Work And The U.S. Environmental Justice Movement: An Introduction To Community Benefits Agreements, Amy Krings, Hillary Thomas

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

School Standpoint': Understanding Effects Of Personal Experiences Within School-Based Social Work Practice, Emily Shayman

Dissertations

This qualitative, phenomenological study used Standpoint Theory combined with Positionality theories as a lens to understand the data and an analytical tool to determine how school-based social workers consider their general 'sense of self' within their professional decisions and practice approaches. Findings included three main themes that emerged from the data regarding participants' overall 'sense of self' within school-based social work practices: social structure, personal identity, and professional role. Participants described these influences in fluid, flexible, and dynamic ways, and as having both positive and negative impact on their professional practices. These three components of school-based social work practice came …

Psychological And Economic Self-Sufficiency Among Low-Income Citizens Receiving Governmental Assistance, Vorricia Fechon Harvey

Dissertations

This dissertation study examines dynamics of psychological self-sufficiency (PSS) using a frame of reference that comes from perspectives of low-income citizens who receive some form of governmental assistance (i.e., public aid, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and/or housing subsidies). It explores the validity of integrating PSS as a psychological capital into the holistic theory of change in workforce development. Because in the past, great emphasis has been placed on human capital development and fast track movement into the labor market, little has emerged on the influence of psychological capital properties. Subsequently, policy has guided the evolution of employment program …

Affirming Strengths-Based Models Of Practice, Trevor G. Gates, Brian Kelly

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

Affirming and strengths- based practice with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals and communities started to become more mainstream in the 1970s and 1980s and continues today. Whereas stigmatization of LGBTQ individuals and communities was once the accepted norm, most mainstream professional organizations in social work and allied helping professions today treat LGBTQ identity as part of the normal spectrum of human experience and support affirming and strengths- based models of practice with LGBTQ communities (American Counseling Association, 2013; American Psychological Association [APA], 2008; Council on Social Work Education [CSWE], 2015; National Association of Social Workers, 2005). In …

Practice With The Gay Male Community, Michael P. Dentato Phd, Msw, Tyler M. Argüello, Courtney Wilson

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

Understanding the complex needs of the unique and widely diverse gay male community underscores the importance of practitioners to robustly examine the wide array of sociocultural, lifespan, health and mental health factors. While gay men are a subpopulation of the broader lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community, practitioners should realize that they have unique needs associated with their sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, and gender expression sometimes similar to their LBTQ counterparts but often separate from factors that impact LBTQ individuals. In the same fashion, while gay men may encounter similar life challenges as their nongay counterparts separate …

Preparing Social Workers For Practice With Lgbt Populations Affected By Substance Use: Perceptions From Students, Alumni And Service Providers, Michael P. Dentato Phd, Msw, Brian Kelly, Michael R. Lloyd, Nikki Busch

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

Trends in the field of service among those with alcohol and other drug addictions highlight the urgent need for schools of social work to effectively train students to serve clients with substance use disorders, and have cultural humility to effectively serve disproportionately affected LGBT consumers. Online surveys and interviews examined perceptions of graduate social work students and alumni in a certified alcohol and drug counselor program, along with several service providers within an urban setting in the US. Results indicated that students and alumni did not feel adequately prepared through coursework to practice with LGBT populations affected by substance use, …

Education Access For Unaccompanied Immigrant Children, Deidra Coleman, Adam Avrushin

Center for the Human Rights of Children

No abstract provided.

Neighborhood Food Infrastructure And Food Security In Metropolitan Detroit, Scott W. Allard, Maria V. Wathen, H. Luke Shaefer, Sandra K. Danziger

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

Concern about spatial access to food retailers and its relationship to household food security has increased in recent years, placing greater importance on understanding how proximity to food retailers is related to household food consumption. Using data from the Michigan Recession and Recovery Study (MRRS), a panel survey of working‐age adults in the Detroit Metropolitan Area, this article explores whether access to the food retailers is associated with food insecurity. We use unique data about food retailers in metropolitan Detroit to develop an array of food retailer access measures that account for distance to nearest retailer, density of retailers, commute …

A Historical Overview Of Art And Music-Based Activities In Social Work With Groups: Nondeliberative Practice And Engaging Young People’S Strengths, Brian Kelly, Lauren Doherty

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

This article provides a historical overview of the use of art and music-based activities in social work with groups. The authors review archival, empirical, and theoretical literature that explores the use and effectiveness of these activities in the recreation movement and group work practice from the late 19th to mid-20th centuries, the Hull House settlement in Chicago from the late 19th to mid-20th centuries, and in recent group practice in social work and related fields. Findings suggest that art and music-based activities encourage and facilitate nondeliberative practice and allow for important opportunities to engage young people’s strengths.

Linking Students And Professional Associations: A Curricular Strategy, Shirley Simon, Susan F. Grossman

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

Students in professional social work programs in the United States traditionally receive little direct information about or contact with professional associations. What exposure they do get is haphazard and primarily through extracurricular means. This article describes and evaluates a curricular module to enhance student awareness of and connection to professional associations. The group work classes at a Midwestern U.S. university were adapted to include a course module addressing the role of professional associations. Components of the module include readings, discussions, presentations and attendance at a professional association meeting. A pre- and post-test was administered to assess the initial impact of …

Vinyl, Brian Kelly

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

Brian Kelly talks about Vinyl in Social Work in 42 Objects.

Practice And Practitioner Correlates Of Psychotherapists’ Self-Perceived Clinical Wisdom, Shveta Kumaria

Dissertations

Wisdom is seen as quality that makes the navigation of the complex issues of human existence easier. A role that wise individuals often perform is that of problem-solver, advisor, and mentor. Therapist factors have been found to account for a greater role in treatment effectiveness than the choice of treatment modality; therefore, this study attempts to find parallels between the fields of psychotherapy research (therapist factors) and self-perceived wisdom by examining the practice and practitioner correlates of therapists who feel wise with their clients.

This study analyzed data collected over the past two decades by members of the Society for …

Cruzando Fronteras: The Immigration Experiences Of Central American Women, Cecelia Quinn

Dissertations

The present study explores the immigration experiences of Central American women. As violence and poverty mounts in the Northern Triangle; Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, immigrants continue to migrate north. Immigrant women risk their lives seeking safety, opportunity, and reunions with loved ones. Central American women's immigration journeys are unique and they face the added dangers of gender-based violence. This exploratory, qualitative study guided by feminist standpoint theory allowed the women to tell their stories in their own language, as they saw fit. Twelve Central American Latinas shared their immigration experiences, responding to semi-structured interviews. Through interpretive phenomenological analysis and …

Bullying In Youth, Jonathan B. Singer, Karen Slovak

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

Bullying is the most common form of violence in schools and has been shown to disrupt the emotional and social development of both the targets and the perpetrators of bullying (Raskauskas & Stoltz, 2007). Bullying can be physical, verbal, relational, and direct or indirect. There are well-established age and sex trends (Olweus, 1993; Smith, Madsen, & Moody, 1999). There has been considerable research on bullying-prevention programs and scholarship on best-practice guidelines for school social workers (Dupper, 2013). An emerging concern is with the use of electronic and Internet devices in bullying, referred to as “cyberbullying.” In this article we define …

Racial Inequality And The Implementation Of Emergency Management Laws In Economically Distressed Urban Areas, Shawna J. Lee, Amy Krings, Sara Rose, Krista Dover, Jessica Ayoub, Fatima Salman

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

This study examines the use of emergency management laws as a policy response to fiscal emergencies in urban areas. Focusing on one Midwestern Rust Belt state, we use a mixed methods approach – integrating chronology of legislative history, analysis of Census data, and an ethnographic case study – to examine the dynamics of emer- gency management laws from a social justice perspective. Analysis of Census data showed that emergency man- agement policies disproportionately affected African Americans and poor families. Analysis indicated that in one state, 51% of African American residents and 16.6% of Hispanic or Latinos residents had lived in …

Transforming Impossible Into Possible (Tip): A Bottom-Up Practice In Workforce Development For Low-Income Jobseekers, Philip Young P. Hong

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

This paper discusses an evidence-informed bottom-up transformative social work practice model that holistically encapsulates multi-system levels of practice. Based on 12 years of empirical evidence on psychological self-sufficiency (PSS), the Transforming Impossible into Possible (TIP) program was developed to focuses on the ‘process’ of human agency development that leads to economic self-sufficiency (ESS) ‘outcomes’. It attempts to bring together various modalities of social work practice into a transformational leadership development framework that reflects a bottom-up, participant-centered approach to empowering individuals to impact larger systems. In workforce development practice, it is being regarded that constructs reflected in TIP improve both employment …

Challenges And Opportunities For Applying Group Work Principles To Enhance Online Learning In Social Work, Marcia B. Cohen, Shirley Simon, Donna Mclaughlin, Barbara Muskat, Mary White

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

The recent increase in social work courses being offered on line as well as fully online social work programs raises challenges for social work educators. The literature suggests that group work principles can serve as a foundation for effective online education. This chapter will examine the obstacles and opportunities for using group work principles to advance learning in online education. Three examples of fully online social work courses will be discussed m order to highlight these issues. The potential role of group work educators as leaders in facilitating effective online learning will be explored.

The State Of The American Veteran: The Chicagoland Veterans Study, Sara Kintzle, Janice M. Rasheed, Carl A. Castro

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

The State of the American Veteran: The Chicagoland Veterans Study, conducted by the University of Southern California (USC) School of Social Work Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans & Military Families (CIR) and in partnership with Loyola University Chicago School of Social Work, is an effort to provide data-driven recommendations for serving the large population of veterans residing in Chicago and the surrounding area. Service members encounter a series of needs as they transition out of the military. These include securing employment and housing, addressing physical or mental health issues and adjusting to civilian culture. The ease through which …

A Cross-National Validation Of The Short Employment Hope Scale (Ehs-14) In The United States And South Korea, Philip Young P. Hong

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

The Short Employment Hope Scale (EHS-14) has been developed in the United States to assess an individual's level of psychological self-sufficiency—a complementary measure to the widely used economic self-sufficiency in workforce development programs. This study examined the comparability of the EHS-14 between U.S. and South Korean low-income job seeker groups. A multisample confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and a series of invariance tests were conducted to validate EHS-14 using two independent samples. A latent means analysis (LMA) was used to test the latent mean difference between the two samples. The results indicate that CFAs on both U.S. and South Korean samples …

Psychological And Economic Self-Sufficiency Among Low-Income Jobseekers With Physical Disability Barriers, Philip Young P. Hong, Hayley Sneiderman Stokar, Sangmi Choi

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

The purpose of this research is to investigate the process of psychological empowerment by way of examin- ing the effects of perceived employment barrier on employment hope, and employment hope on economic self-suffi- ciency. A structural equation modeling analysis was used with a sample of 517 participants in a job readiness program of a community-based social service organization in Chicago. Results indicate that employment hope mediates the path between perceived barriers and economic self-sufficiency. Findings provide preliminary evidence to support an em- powerment-based approach to rehabilitation, promoting self-sufficiency among people with physical disabilities using interventions that address employment barriers and …

Composing An Aesthetics Of Performance Pedagogy, Brian Kelly, Aimee Wodda

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

We present a collaborative audio and video-based performance ethnography and companion essay that expands upon our experiences in a graduate-level performance ethnography seminar. Our performative text explores the potential for audio and video-based performance ethnography as an important pedagogical tool that prioritizes alternative ways of knowing that are deeply related to nondeliberative groupwork practice. Following a review of our process, we propose an aesthetics of performance pedagogy and discuss the importance of liminality in our work. Implications for practice include providing educators with critical opportunities to contribute to students’ awareness and understanding without demanding conformity to particular ways of knowing.

Group Work Camp, Brian L. Kelly, Jennie Fleming

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

The editorial to Vol. 26, No. 3 of Groupwork.

Being A Neurobiologically Informed Play Therapist, Rana Hong, Christie M. Mason

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

This article offers a foundation for becoming a neurobiologically informed play therapist. Following a discussion of the history of neurobiologically informed approaches to treatment an overview of key principles of neurobiology is provided, synthesized from publications by leaders in the field. Principles are then used to explain play therapy interventions used in client cases. Drawing on concepts from recent neurobiology, this article ends with recommendations toward becoming a more neurobiologically informed play therapist

Coping With Trauma: Reflections From Angolan Refugee Returnees, Michael Robert Milco

Dissertations

Millions of refugee families experience multiple migrations resulting in various degrees of trauma and stress. Each reacts to these challenges and hardships in unique ways. This dissertation research was designed to investigate the various coping strategies Angolan refugee returnees used in dealing with the traumas they experienced as a result of their various migrations. Through the lens of an ecosystem theory, the author developed research questions designed to learn “How Angolan Refugee Returnees Cope with Trauma?” Sixteen Angolan refugee returnees were interviewed in this qualitative phenomenological study. The results of the study narrowed down the most specific themes refugees used …

Managing Workers Who Are Deaf: A Phenomenological Investigation Of Hearing Supervisors, Hayley Sneiderman Stokar

Dissertations

This study examines the experience of hearing managers of Deaf employees in the restaurant sector, specifically as it relates to accommodation and social integration. Deaf workers who use American Sign Language differ from their hearing peers with regard to communication style, language choice, and need for accommodation. Responsibility for social integration and logistical accommodation falls largely on managers, who may be unfamiliar with the needs and capabilities of Deaf workers. The aim of this study is to generate knowledge about the accommodation and social integration experiences of managers with Deaf workers that can benefit those unfamiliar with these phenomena. The …

Defining Quality In Undergraduate Social Work Education, Mary Ruth Weeden

Dissertations

“Quality” is a value-laden term that depends upon variables associated with culture, language and political context. Concluding there is no absolute, single definition of this term Harvey and Green (1993) postulated the meaning of quality as reflective of the differing perspectives of individuals and society as a whole; this includes the interrelated concepts: excellence; perfection; fitness for purpose, value for money; and transformation. This exploratory study attempts to define and operationalize the relevant characteristics that describe quality in undergraduate social work education by applying the five concepts of Harvey and Green (1993). Interviews were conducted with undergraduate social work program …