Social Work Commons^™

Victims Of Child Sex Trafficking: Are U.S. Pediatricians Ready To Identify, Assess, Treat And Protect Them?, Bidisha Sinha

Dissertations

The trafficking of children for commercial sexual exploitation is a gross violation of human rights and a global, public health issue that is rapidly growing and prevalent. Due to the clandestine nature of this crime and the general lack of public knowledge about it, identifying and protecting victims of child sex trafficking (CST) is fraught with challenges. Therefore, it is imperative that healthcare professionals - often the only professionals with whom CST victims come in contact while in captivity - are properly educated and trained on this topic. A literature review reveals there is little knowledge about pediatricians' education and …

Notes From The Field: Culturally Adapted Research Methods For South Asian Participants, Erum Agha, Abha Rai

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

South Asian immigrants form one of the largest immigrant groups in the United States. However, they remain understudied despite their large presence in the country. They are often lumped with other Asians or classified under the category "other" in national studies, which leads to a limited knowledge about this group. To address this methodological challenge, a representative multi-site sample of South Asian participants must be recruited to participate in research studies so their unique issues can be studied appropriately. This paper discusses best practices and culturally responsive ways of conducting ethical research with this unique population and delineates specific recruitment, …

Your Goals And You - Don’T Let Your Goals Get (To) You …. Before You Can Get To Them!, Shweta Singh

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

What is the one thing you can count on as far as goals are concerned? Not one thing but many things and secondly- your goals are similar to goals of many people around the world, who (interestingly enough) have really nothing in common with you. And finally- that is because how we decide our goals, has very little to do with what is inside us and more about the surrounding influences.

Just lean back and think about how much you are taught and selectively exposed to - by way of opinions, ideas, thoughts about what an ideal life is? Who …

Examining Psychological Self-Sufficiency Among African American Low-Income Jobseekers In A Health Profession Career Pathway Program, Philip Young P. Hong, Caleb Kim, Rana Hong, Jang H. Park, Dara Lewis

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

The aim of this study was to explore the experiences and perceptions of low-income African American jobseekers participating in the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) program by employing a mixed method (Qual-Quant) approach. For qualitative data, two in-depth focus groups were conducted with a total of 12 participants who either completed one program or graduated from the HPOG program. With quantitative data, amediation path analysis was conducted using Model 4 of the PROCESS macro (3.1) with a total of 386 participants. The qualitative content analysis of the focus groups generated an overarching theme of the relationship influence on generating hope …

Professional Development: An Msw Course Based On Group Work Principles And Opportunities, Shirley Simon

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

Professional development is a critical but frequently overlooked aspect of students’ education. This paper chronicles a group work-based MSW elective course that explores issues of professional identity and responsibility within a contemporary context, develops projects focused on individually-determined professional interests, and provides opportunities to participate in and present at professional conferences such as the International Association for Social Work with Groups (IASWG) Symposium. The syllabus, feedback from students, and recommendations for replication are shared.

Neurobiological Core Content In The Research-Supported Transforming Impossible Into Possible (Tip) Program Model, Rana Hong, Philip Young P. Hong

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

This article explores neurobiological components in the Transforming Impossible into Possible (TIP) program; a research-supported social work group model developed from the theory of psychological self-sufficiency (PSS). The PSS theory emerges from a participatory action research in workforce development, defining PSS as the force within someone that activates a process of transforming perceived barriers into hope driven actions. TIP program is a bottom-up, participant-centered, multi-systematic approach which empowers individuals to begin the PSS process by developing self-awareness, confidence, hope, goal-orientation, leadership, accountability, conscientiousness, and grit. Applying the core concepts of neurobiological content derived from both cognitive neuroscience and interpersonal neurobiology, …

Pathway Of Employment From Uncovering Barriers To Discovering Hope: Nontraditional, Student-Centered, Relationship-Based Approach, Philip Young P. Hong, Rana Hong, Dara Lewis, Diane Williams

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

This study explores the experiences and perspectives of service providers with regard to the process of psychological self-sufficiency (PSS) among students in the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) program. Based on a social work theory of PSS as our organizing framework, combined qualitative content analysis (inductive to deductive) was conducted with two service provider focus groups (n = 16) and three student focus groups (n = 27). The overarching theme of nontraditional, student-centered, holistic staff approaches which lead to the pathway from uncovering perceived employment barriers to discovering employment hope emerged with four phenomenological categories. The findings supported …

Chicago's School Closings: From A Civil Rights Perspective To A Human Rights Perspective, Lincoln Hill

Center for the Human Rights of Children

In May 2013, the Chicago Board of education approved a plan to close 49 of the city’s elementary schools and one of its high schools1 resulting in the largest mass school closure in United states history.2 Those against the school closings argued that the decision was discriminatory considering the racial and socioeconomic disparities of children directly affected. With Black children representing just 40% of the district’s students, 80% of the children impacted by the closings were Black students living in predominantly Black and impoverished neighbor- hoods in the south and West sides of the city.

Despite national criticism and protests …

Integrating Youth Participation And Ecosocial Work: New Possibilities To Advance Environmental And Social Justice, Tania Schusler, Amy Krings, Melissa Hernández

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

This article reveals possibilities to expand the role of youth within ecosocial work practice. The Where I Stand Youth Summit held in Chicago, Illinois, provided a safe space for young people to reflect upon their understanding of, and roles within, social and environmental justice movements. Drawing upon critical youth empowerment theory and participant observation, we note that youth shared experiences of oppression across unique social identities, while displaying authentic communication, acceptance, and desire for solidarity. Re-defining what knowledge matters, along with intention and self-restoration, also emerged as critical to building young people’s agency and power to effect social change.

Collective Survival Strategies And Anti-Colonial Practice In Ecosocial Work, Finn Mclafferty Bell, Mary Kate Dennis, Amy Krings

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

Oppressed communities have long used strategies of caring for and protecting each other to ensure their collective survival. We argue for ecosocial workers to critically interrogate how agency, history, and culture structure environmental problems and our responses to them, by developing a resilience-based framework, collective survival strategies (CSS). CSS consider power, culture and history and build upon the strengths of oppressed communities facing global environmental changes. We challenge the dominant narrative of climate change as a “new” problem and connect it to colonization. We discuss implications by examining a social work program explicitly built on Indigenous knowledges and anti-colonial practice.

The Future Of Environmental Social Work: Looking To Community Initiatives For Models Of Prevention, Samantha Teixeira, John Mathias, Amy Krings

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

Social work responses to environmental degradation have sought to mitigate harm that has already occurred and create strategies to respond or adapt to environmental hazards. Despite a good deal of literature suggesting the promise of prevention-focused models, social workers have less frequently considered prevention models to address environmental issues. In this manuscript, we consider how communities engaged in environmentally-based prevention work might inform the development of ecosocial work practice. We describe how a prevention-focused agenda, in partnership with communities, can be a promising avenue for ecosocial work practice to address the root causes of environmental degradation and its social impacts.

Resisting Gentrification: The Theoretical And Practice Contributions Of Social Work, Amie Thurber, Amy Krings, Linda S. Martinez, Mary Ohmer

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

Summary

Gentrification is changing the landscape of many cities worldwide, exacerbating economic and racial inequality. Despite its relevance to social work, the field has been conspicuously absent from scholarship related to gentrification. This paper introduces the dominant view of gentrification (a political economic lens), highlighting its contributions and vulnerabilities, then introduces four case studies that illuminate the distinct contributions of social work to broaden the ways in which gentrification is theorized and responded to within communities.

Findings

When gentrification is analyzed exclusively through a political economy lens, researchers, policy makers, and practitioners are likely to focus on changes in land …

Connections For Change, Shirley Simon

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

The author, a social work educator, describes how a light bulb moment led her to recognize that professional associations need the youth, energy and enthusiasm of student involvement, and that social work students need the mentoring, networking, professionalism and purpose of the professional community. Recognizing that students need to find their voice and their passion, she made it her mission, through involvement in the International Association for Social Work with Groups, to ignite a sense of empowerment in these budding professionals and encourage their engagement with the hard work of this profession.

Mentoring For American Indian/Alaska Native Youth Population, Julia Pryce, Crystal Aschenbrener

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

This review examines research on mentoring American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth. The review is organized around four questions: 1. What is the effectiveness of mentoring for American Indian and Alaska Native youth? 2. What factors influence the effectiveness of mentoring for American Indian and Alaska Native youth? 3. What pathways are most important in linking mentoring to outcomes for American Indian and Alaska Native youth? 4. To what extent have mentoring initiatives for American Indian and Alaska Native youth reached and engaged the youth, been implemented with high quality, and been adopted and sustained?

Social Work, Politics, And Social Policy Education: Applying A Multidimensional Framework Of Power, Amy Krings, Vincent Fusaro, Kerri L. Nicoll, Na Youn Lee

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

The call to promote social justice sets the social work profession in a political context. In an effort to enhance social workers’ preparedness to engage in political advocacy, this article calls on educators to integrate a broad theoretical understanding of power into social policy curricula. We suggest the use of a multidimensional conceptualization of power that emphasizes mechanisms of decision making, agenda control, and attitude formation. We then apply these mechanisms to demonstrate how two prominent features of contemporary politics—party polarization and racially biased attitudes—affect the ability of social workers to influence policy. Finally, we suggest content that social work …

State Of Domestic Violence Content In Msw Curriculum In The U.S. Perspectives On Social Work, Abha Rai, Yoon Joon Choi, Lalit Khandare

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

Domestic violence remains a serious concern in the U.S. and stopping family violence is one of the 12 grand challenges for social work. Further, the core values of our profession are deeply rooted in social justice, dignity and worth of the person and importance of human relationships. This makes the preparedness of social work students to address domestic violence crucial. Social work students need to be provided with support to work with survivors, perpetrators and their families, while engaging in prevention of domestic violence. The present study explores the extent to which domestic violence content is covered within MSW curriculum …

Facilitating Transformation In Workforce Training: Using Clinical Theory To Understand Psychological Self-Sufficiency, Rana Hong, Terry B. Northcut, Marcia Spira, Philip Young P. Hong

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

Acknowledging the scarcity of a bottom up social work practice model in facilitating the development of success in workforce development programs, this study explores Psychological self-sufficiency (PSS) as an emerging social work practice theory. Phenomenological studies of low-income jobseekers in employment training along with the empirical validation of measures of the core constructs of PSS – employment hope scale (EHS) and perceived employment barrier scale (PEBS) – and testing of the theoretical model resulted in the emergence of a new theory of PSS. PSS was conceptually defined as a dynamic and internal drive that activates the process of transforming cognitively …

Exploring The Loss And Disenfranchised Grief Of Animal Care Workers., Benjamin Marton, Teresa Kilbane, Holly Nelson-Becker

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

This article explores the psychological distress of Animal Care Workers (ACWs), and the disenfranchisement of this distress through mixed methods study conducted as an online survey. In all, 139 participants responded about their experiences as an ACW, related psychological distress, and the systemic disenfranchisement of distress. Findings indicate that nearly half of ACWs experienced symptoms of depression in the previous month. Over 66% indicated it was difficult to cope. Limited support often resulted in a disenfranchized loss. Implications suggest ACW distress and disenfranchisement related to animals they serve is similar to that of individuals who lose animal companions.

The Impact Of The Cook County State’S Attorney’S Office Deferred Prosecution Program, Christine George, John Orwat, Don Stemen, Jennifer Cossyleon, Whitney Key

Criminal Justice & Criminology: Faculty Publications & Other Works

This paper analyzes the impact of the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office Deferred Prosecution Program (DPP) on participation outcome patterns and compares recidivism rates between a sample of DPP participants (695) and a comparison group (991) of defendants found guilty through traditional adjudication from February 28, 2011 and December 5, 2012 with recidivism rates through June 6, 2014. Binary logistic and cox proportional regressions were utilized to evaluate the program. No statistically significant difference in re-arrest rates was found for a sample of DPP participants and a comparison group of defendants found guilty through traditional adjudication. However, DPP did have …

Positive Youth Development: Developing, Implementing, And Sustaining Music-Based Services For Emerging Adults Experiencing Homelessness, Brian Kelly

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

Research suggests that comprehensive services that consider the complex and interconnected needs of emerging adults experiencing homelessness may be more effective than interventions with a singular focus. There is little research that demonstrates how agencies that implement programs for individuals experiencing homelessness develop and sustain meaningful services for emerging adults, especially under conditions of increasing austerity. This study targets this gap in the literature by investigating how one transitional living program for emerging adults experiencing homelessness developed a music studio. Specifically, this study examines the factors and processes that were involved in developing, implementing, and sustaining the music studio. Findings …

Research Knowledge Of Advanced Standing And Traditional Students: Implications For Bsw Education, Jennifer L. K. Charles, Nathan H. Perkins, Christopher J. Ward, Melissa L. Stewart, Mary C. Secret

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

The advanced standing model of social work education, which affords graduate credit to qualified BSW students who pursue their MSW, has not been without issue or controversy, including questions of potential differences in performance on various educational outcomes. Specifically related to research curriculum, the importance of which is often not wholly embraced by students, this article reports the results of a secondary data analysis comparing research knowledge among advanced standing and traditional MSW students as well as among the various undergraduate majors (i.e., BSW, psychology, and sociology). Results suggest that research knowledge is similar and low across student subgroups. Important …

Consumer Competence Strategies, Spiritually Inspired Core Values And Locus Of Control: What Are The Links?, Gabriella Spinelli, Holly Nelson-Becker, Roberta Ligossi

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

Ethical consumption has increased as a result of a more pressing environmental agenda, allowing consumers to assert their core values through marketplace decisions. The progressive secularisation of society has opened a gap on how religion and spirituality, defined in this paper as constructs that underpin core values, affect individuals through their consumption choices. An exploratory approach was taken in this research to investigate how consumers negotiate their daily shopping habits, whether they align with or diverge from their religious or secular core values, and whether an internal or external locus of control (LoC) was demonstrated. This qualitative study used the …

Depression Education As Primary Prevention: The Erika’S Lighthouse School-Based Program For High School Students, Michael S. Kelly, Heather Freed, Peggy Kubert, Sarah Greibler

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

Major depression is a treatable and common mental health disorder for youth. Untreated depression is a major risk factor for youth who become suicidal and die by suicide. Recent focus in the school-based literature on creating universal mental health promotion programs have recognized the need for effective depression awareness education programs to assist youth in identifying symptoms of depression in themselves and their peers, and to encourage those youth to seek trusted adults for help. A quasiexperimental design (QED) was employed in two suburban Chicago high schools (n=652) to evaluate the intervention, Real Teenagers Talking About Adolescent Depression (RTTAAD), a …

Investigating Diversity In Social Work Doctoral Education In The United States, Matthew Chin, Jaclynn Hawkins, Amy Krings, Carolyn Peguero-Spencer, Lorraine Gutiérrez

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

Despite its emphasis on social justice, social work in the United States has not always attended to issues of diversity in doctoral education. This article examines the state of the discipline’s research on traditionally underrepresented students in U.S. doctoral social work programs. An analysis of relevant peer-reviewed articles from social work journals revealed that this research has focused on demographic trends, degree motivation, student barriers, existing supports, and career navigation. Diversity in U.S. doctoral social work education is vastly understudied with the majority of scholarship focusing on ethnoracial difference. The limitations of this study are discussed, and future research directions …

Re: Dhs Docket No. Iceb-2018-0002; Rin 1653-Aa75, 0970-Ac42; Comments In Response To Proposed Rulemaking: Apprehension, Processing, Care, And Custody Of Alien Minors And Unaccompanied Alien Children, Katherine Kaufka Walts Jd, Diane Geraghty

Center for the Human Rights of Children

No abstract provided.

Addressing Environmental Gentrification: Improving Environmental Health For Children And Youth Without Displacement, Tania Schusler, Amy Krings

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

Historically, low income communities and communities of color have borne the brunt of environmental pollution with limited access to environmental amenities. This has arisen, in part, due to marginalized communities’ lack of access and influence in environmental decision making, as well as legacies of racial and ethnic housing segregation (Cole & Foster, 2001). Environmental justice concerns include the disproportionate placement and inequitable regulation of polluting facilities in areas populated by people who are poor and/or racial minorities (Bryant, 1995: Bullard, 1993; Mohai & Bryant, 1992; Lavelle & Coyle, 1992). The inequitable distribution of environmental pollution is especially problematic for children’s …

Digital Storytelling: Tools, Techniques, And Traditions, Melanie Sage, Jonathan B. Singer, Andrea Lamarre, Carla Rice

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

No abstract provided.

Addressing Environmental Gentrification: Improving Environmental Health For Children And Youth Without Displacement, Tania Schusler, Amy Krings

Center for the Human Rights of Children

This research brief aims to consider how community members and policies might improve environmental amenities within contaminated communities without displacing existing residents. To this end, we will first introduce a concept known as environmental gentrification. We will then summarize some of the existing literature that explores the relationships between urban greening and brownfield redevelopment projects in relation to gentrification. Brownfields refer to properties where the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant may complicate the property’s expansion, redevelopment, or reuse (https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/overview-brownfields- program). Our review of literature indicates that the degree of gentrification associated with sustainable development …

Unaccompanied Immigrant Child And Family/Sponsor Community Service System Study: Metropolitan Chicago Area, Adam Avrushin, Maria Vidal De Haymes

Center for the Human Rights of Children

This research report seeks to (1) address research gaps relevant to services for unaccompanied immigrant children within the Chicago metropolitan area, and (2) provide relevant information to stakeholders who can strengthen the systems that support these young people. This report provides an overview of this research project, background information and findings from the study. To date, no research has examined these young people and their families who live in the Chicago metropolitan area, their needs, or the services and systems that can, potentially, meet their needs.

Supporting Newcomer Students: A Chicago-Specific Exploration Of Social And Emotional Learning Initiatives, Lincoln Hill

Center for the Human Rights of Children

Due to the large number of immigrant children and families within its borders as well as its sanctuary jurisdiction, the city of Chicago serves as an ideal case study towards investigating specialized services for one of its most vulnerable subpopulations of children, primarily the development needs of its immigrant children. The desired outcome for this non-exhaustive research brief is to provide empirical evidence and best practices for Chicago community and school specialists seeking to support the social and emotional needs of their newcomer student population.