Social Work Commons^™

Links Between Perceived Mother-Adolescent And Father-Adolescent Conflict And Low Self-Control: A Cross-National Comparative Study, Tory Thomas

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

The influence of parent-adolescent relationships and adolescent adjustment have been well-documented. Self-control has emerged as a key probabilistic construct in understanding adjustment, well-being, and life success. The present study tests the links between adolescent perceptions of maternal and paternal conflict and self-control. In addition, to understand the extent to which cultural developmental context impacts these associations, the study will employ a cross-cultural comparative lens to test whether cultural context moderates these links. Self-report data were collected from N = 4,924 adolescents (Mage = 16.97 years, 54.08% female) across four countries (China, Czech Republic, Turkey, and the United States). In by …

Patterns Into Pathways For Improving Safety Culture: Refined Latent Class Analysis Informs Tailored Decision Support For South Carolina Dss Safety Culture Improvements, Michaela Voit

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

The rising prevalence of exposures to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) demands a coordinated public health response, as a significant body of research details the cumulative impact of ACEs on chronic morbidities contributing to reduced life expectancy. Child welfare workers (CWW) are embedded in this public health effort, tasked with preventing and mitigating the impacts of ACEs through family and prevention services. The National Partnership for Child Safety (NPCS) may improve the wellbeing of CWWs and the effectiveness of Child Welfare (CW) services by improving the quality of safety culture within CW organizations. To inform NPCS quality improvement efforts, our project …

Over The Hills And Through The Hollers: How One Program Is Assisting Residents Of Appalachia With Opioid Use Recovery, Aubrey E. Jones, Jayme E. Walters, Aaron R. Brown

Journal of Appalachian Health

Introduction: The consequences of increasing opioid misuse in the U.S. over the last two decades have been severe, contributing to hundreds of thousands of lives lost and heavy tolls on individuals, families, and society. The Appalachian Region has been hit particularly hard, with its predominantly rural landscape seeing disproportionate increases in opioid misuse and overdoses. These cases have been difficult to address due to poor treatment access and capacity constraints in many areas of Appalachia.

Purpose: The current study focuses on evaluating The Kentucky Access to Recovery Program (KATR), which provides services to individuals recovering from opioid addiction residing in …

Leadership In Nonprofit Organizations: Best Practices For Volunteer Retention, Jennifer Lawrence

DSW Capstone Projects

While there is a significant amount of research focusing on organizational leadership in business and for-profit organizations, comparatively little data has been collected and studied to address the role of leadership in volunteer organizations. By closing this gap in research and providing context around leadership, nonprofit organizations can enhance leadership, culture and climate, and volunteer engagement and retention. Fewer Americans are engaging in volunteerism in their community than any other time in the past twenty years. The Systemic Literature Review will aid in recognizing and addressing this decline which is important as volunteer organizations provide needed services to people and …

Internalized Homonegativity And The Mental Health Of Lesbian, Gay, And Bisexual Individuals: An Integrative Treatment Approach, David Kearby

DSW Capstone Projects

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals (LGBI) have a higher rate of mental health disorders than the general population. The mental health disparities experienced by LGBI are positively correlated with higher internalized homonegativity (IH) levels, which impacts their functioning at the unconscious, cognitive, and interpersonal levels. Thus, effective interventions targeting the mental health of LGBI must consider IH's intrapsychic, cognitive, and interpersonal nature. An integrative psychotherapy approach addressing the mental health and IH of LGBI is needed to address the intrapsychic, cognitive, and interpersonal factors at play.

Product one of this capstone is a systematic literature review that identified psychotherapeutic interventions …

Rebranding The Battle Against Clinician Burnout, Taylor Albitar

DSW Capstone Projects

The purpose of this capstone project is to take a deep dive into the issue of burnout among marginalized healthcare providers. This paper will dissect key points in history that target wellness and define terms that are relevant to understanding the effects of burnout on a person’s work-life balance. It will be divided into several sections, including an overview of the problem and contributing factors, a thorough review of relevant literature, a conceptual idea that will explore both the problem at hand and theories that can help with its effects, and finally a practice application that will serve as the …

Removing The Masc: Dismantling Gendered Occupations Through Social Work Education, Austin M. Raines

DSW Capstone Projects

The “Masculine mystique” refers to a psychological mask that men wear, enabling them to maintain power and distance themselves from traits associated with femininity” (Kahn, 2009, p. 283). This capstone project seeks to solve the Social Work Grand Challenge of improving the lives that hegemonic masculinity harms and limits. It emphasizes the relationship between the two areas of life (work-home), once thought to exist in different realms but are today more interwoven than ever (Lin & Burgard, 2018; Sok et al., 2014). Men have higher rates of traumatic injuries and exposure to significant physical risks, violence hazards, and stricter normative …

The Strong Black Woman Schema: A Proactive Approach To Conceptualizing And Providing Mental Health Treatment For Black Women Who Identify With The Strong Black Woman Schema, Kendra Mulder

DSW Capstone Projects

The Strong Black Woman Schema is the ideology that Black women should display mental and physical strength, stoicism, and nurturer traits. While Black women who identify with this schema typically associate this term with a positive identity, there are adverse outcomes that stem from this identification. Black women who identify with the Strong Black Woman schema experience higher rates of depression, anxiety, and psychological distress. No treatment modality has been determined to treat Black women who identify with the Strong Black Woman Schema. This capstone presentation will present a systematic literature review that discusses how the Strong Black Woman Schema …

Supporting Social Work Employment-Hosted Practicum Placements: Challenges And Recommendations, Mary Scanlon

DSW Capstone Projects

The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) named field education as the signature pedagogy of social work education in 2008. The accrediting organization develops policies that accredited social work programs must adhere to within their field education programs. One policy that stood for over forty years required students completing practicums at their places of employment to create learning opportunities beyond the scope of their employment activities. CSWE altered that policy in its 2022 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) and now allows programs to let students count their paid work time as field hours. This is a significant shift in …

Foster Caregiving: How Interactions With The Child Welfare Agency Impact Foster Parent Satisfaction, Recruitment, And Retention, Ethan Engelhardt

Theses and Dissertations--Social Work

Professionals of the child welfare system in Kentucky have continuously worked to retain and recruit new foster parents for the foster care system. Foster parents are uniquely placed in a surrogate caring position for children removed from their homes for reasons of abuse or neglect. Foster parents accept this role and step in to provide a safe and loving household for many children. There are more than 9,000 children placed in Out of Home Care (OOHC) on any given day in Kentucky, leaving many children in need of a loving and supportive household. Foster parents hang in the balance between …

Factors Associated With Successful Military-To-Civilian Transition Among Special Forces Veterans, Edward Richter

Theses and Dissertations--Social Work

The purpose of this study was to explore the military-to-civilian transitional experience in a sample of Special Forces veterans. Acknowledging challenges in accessing the veteran population, most existing research on the military-to-civilian transition consolidates military occupations into a single sample. This method fails to address the intricacies that may exist within individual military occupations, especially that of U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers. Special Forces qualified soldiers represent the largest portion of all U.S. Military Special Operations Forces and are responsible for the majority of all Special Operations activities, yet their experience in transitioning out of the Army is largely unknown. …

Assessing 4-H And Its Circle Of Courage In A Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility: A Case Study, Elizabeth Steering

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

This 4-H case study takes place in a psychiatric residential treatment facility (PRTF) in Kentucky. The PRTF provides clinical services to youth that are not able to be safely maintained in their homes due to having demonstrated unsafe or harmful behaviors. Youth admitted to the PRTF stay for an average of three to six months while they receive intensive therapeutic and psychiatric care as well as medical treatment and public schooling. The current case study incorporates programming from 4-H, which is the youth development program of the Cooperative Extension System (CES) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), …

Exploring The Distinction Between Support And Enabling In Families With Substance Use Disorder, Krystal N. King

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

Substance use disorders (SUD) are a pervasive public health problem facing families in the United States. Although families are frequently urged to support loved ones who have SUD and cautioned against enabling them, there is a dearth of literature that distinguishes between supporting and enabling. Through qualitative interviews, this phenomenological study examined the experiences of eight parents with adult children with SUD who were currently in recovery. Five themes emerged from the data including: (a) living in despair, (b) addiction and recovery knowledge, (c) support group philosophy, (d) coping with addiction, and (e) differentiation. The results from this study suggest …

Trauma-Informed Care: A Collaborative Strategy To Address Hiv-Infection Rates Among Black Gay And Bisexual Men, Willie T. Boddie Jr.

DSW Capstone Projects

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) continues to be an epidemic among gay and bisexual men or men who have sex with men (MSMs). For Black MSMs, the HIV infection rate is disproportionate compared to the number of Black or African American citizens in the U.S. Black MSMs have the highest HIV infection rate in the U.S. This Capstone Project seeks to explore the possible impact of trauma experiences among this group and determine how providing trauma-informed care, along with the standard HIV education and awareness can be used to effectively reduce this disparity and ultimately …

Mitigating Compounded Barriers To Independence: Improving Outcomes Post Emancipation For Foster Youth With Secondary And Tertiary Barriers To Success, Corletha Norman

DSW Capstone Projects

A total of 407,493 children were identified as foster children by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (2021) at the completion of their 2020 fiscal year. The reason for entry into foster care is just as varied as the way in which the children exit. It is expected that many foster youth will experience poor outcomes as a result of their foster care experiences. Poor outcomes continue to be an ever-present undesired rite of passage for foster youth preparing to leave foster care at or after the age of 18. Research conducted over …

Identification And Removal Of Barriers To Va Mental Health Treatment For Black Female Veterans, Thea Jenune Williams

DSW Capstone Projects

The Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) operates the largest integrated health care system in the country. The VA dates back to 1865, when President Lincoln signed legislature establishing a network for caring for the nation’s wounded after the Civil War. Many see this system as a safety net for the nation’s military veterans. Research shows veterans have reported several factors that interfere with them receiving needed mental health treatment from the VA. The majority of veterans are males however the number of females is quickly growing. Currently, females make up 11% of the veteran population and are projected to reach …

Black Women And The Weight Of The World: When The Weight Becomes Too Much To Bear, April R. Edmonds

DSW Capstone Projects

ABSTRACT

Black women’s mental health continues to go largely underrepresented. Black women are seen as having many protective factors such as their faith communities, family and friends, and what others see as strength and resilience. A review of the literature depicts Black women as traditionally being caretakers, nurturers, and depicted as strong (Castelin & White, 2022). Because of this perception, terms such as the Strong Black Woman Schema and the Black Superwoman Phenomena are what many equate Black women with. This scholarship instead shows how associations such as these impact Black women negatively and impose additional stigma and hardship. Research …

Deep Community Partnerships: The Future Of Community-Based Senior Care In A Value-Driven Era, Diana Wilcox

DSW Capstone Projects

This capstone reviews three scholarly products that examine how chronically ill older adults interact with healthcare systems and senior service delivery systems in the United States. The systematic literature review examines how community-based senior programs that are funded by the Older Americans Act (OAA) positively impact health outcomes and promote health and wellness among the older adult population. The conceptual paper examines how Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), Managed Care Organizations (MCOs), Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) interact with the patient and with one another using the lens of Systems Theory. The practice application paper examines best practices regarding care coordination …

Disparities In Mental Health Technology Among African Americans: Breaking Cultural Inclusion Barriers, Nyoki Cosey-Brown

DSW Capstone Projects

Mental health technology is a healthcare delivery model of the future. The engagement in virtual healthcare was intensified when traditional healthcare methods were inaccessible during the federal restrictions implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Utilizing digital apparatuses for healthcare improved the convenience, efficiency, and accessibility of various mental health services that were inoperable in past healthcare models. However, the historical constructs of stigma, discrimination, inequity, exclusion, and structural racism in mental healthcare were prevalent problems that remained present in virtual mental health platforms concerning the experiences of African-American patients and professionals who utilized the spaces.

This research explored mental health …

Technology As A Change Agent For Social Work Supervision, Hermaya Onunwor

DSW Capstone Projects

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a critical impact on the social work profession, with social workers relying heavily on technology to deliver services. There have been concerns about the effectiveness of these evolved practices, and practitioners are questioning whether they are acceptable as emergency orders caused by the pandemic begin to lapse. To address these concerns, a systematic literature review was conducted to synthesize scholarly literature on the effectiveness of telesupervision in social work practice. This capstone project aims to provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of telesupervision in social work practice

When evaluating the training and development of social …

Strengths-Based Case Management With Military Veterans: Building Protective Factors Against Suicide, Meredith Wingard Lange

DSW Capstone Projects

Abstract

Veteran suicide deaths remain between 16 and 18 daily despite over two decades of research and programming focused on suicide risk identification, therapeutic intervention, and suicide prevention. As research on suicidality among veterans and active-duty military continues, so do the efforts to develop new suicide prevention plans, interventions, and programs. When does one admit that suicide prevention strategies alone are not working? This paper introduces the application of a strengths-based case management approach to mitigating suicidality using a veteran’s inherent and communal protective factors. A new approach to mitigating suicidality emerges through the in-depth analysis of existing literature, a …

Engaging Predominantly White Churches In Racial Justice Work, Christopher B. Rakestraw

DSW Capstone Projects

Over the past three years, the tragic deaths of many people of color have renewed nationwide discourse on racial injustices and racism. White churches seeking to become anti-racist are confronted with a number of obstacles. This capstone project addresses the topic of Engaging Predominantly White Churches in Racial Justice Work through three interconnected scholarly products. Each product draws from the research of sociology, psychology, social work, education, and religion to investigate a different aspect of the overarching subject.

The Systematic Literature Review examines the impact of white racial identity on the racial attitudes of Predominantly White Church (PWC) congregants. Evidence …

Treatment Of Borderline Personality Disorder: Re-Envisioned To Mitigate Stigma And Enhance Treatment Effectiveness, Abigail Lorraine Steinkamp

DSW Capstone Projects

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) and the characteristics that define it are often viewed negatively by therapists and other mental health providers. Terms to describe these clients commonly include “manipulative”, “attention-seeking”, and “always in crisis.” Because of this jargon, there is a deep-set stigma that surrounds the disorder. Therapists and treating clinicians base their decisions and treatment protocol on hearsay of the disorder and already have an image of their prospective BPD client before the client enters their office. This capstone project seeks to inform clinicians about the present stigma and provides tools that are proposed to reduce stigmatizing beliefs within …

Leadership Strategies For New Supervisors On Leading A Diverse Workforce, Christie L. Watson

DSW Capstone Projects

The title leader, supervisor, or manager, alone does not describe the qualities it takes to develop a workforce that is engaged, empowered, inclusive, diverse, and psychologically safe. To retain employees, one must understand these qualities and learn how to put them into action. It is said that people spend more time at work than they do at home. According to a study completed by Andrew Naber (2021) at Gettysburg College says, on average, people spend one-third of their life at work (p. 1). Having a poor experience in the workplace leads to turnover, decreased productivity, disengaged employees, and poor customer …

Just Because We Are Black: Exploring The Impact Of Racial Trauma On African American Adults And Introducing An Approach To Assessment, Charessa L. Mcintosh

DSW Capstone Projects

Racial trauma, also referred to as race-based traumatic Stress (RBTS), is a significant problem that African Americans experience. Racial trauma refers to people of Color and Indigenous individuals' (POCI) reactions to dangerous and threatening events and real or perceived experiences of and exposure to racial discrimination. RBTS can be experienced by other racial minorities, but it is the most frequently experienced by African Americans. The origins of racial trauma include racism, exposure to racism, experiencing and witnessing physical violence, the threat of injury, and numerous other emotionally traumatic events involving race. It is not uncommon for secondary traumatic stress disorder …

Sexual Reproductive Healthcare: Reproductive Autonomy, Access Inequity And The Call For Service Expansion, Elizabeth Johnson

DSW Capstone Projects

Sexual Reproductive Healthcare (SRH) is a key component of not only women’s healthcare but healthcare for every one of every age. SRH impacts not only physical health and social emotional well-being but foundations of families, communities and society including the economic impacts and the challenges of inequity. By examining the history of sexual reproductive health care, including advances in access and subsequent barriers, funding and lack thereof, the impact bias in obtaining care and the ever-changing law, policies and regulations impacting care this Capstone highlights the current yet ever changing status of sexual reproductive health care in the United States. …

Eliminating The Stigma Surrounding Mental Illness In Healthcare Settings: Examining Provider Training Using Anti-Oppressive Instruction And Contact (Aoic) Training, Janice M. Knapp

DSW Capstone Projects

Disparities in healthcare settings for individuals with mental illness is a pervasive issue that can create dire circumstances for one’s health. However, research into ways in which to eliminate the biases and stigma that lead to these disparities has not yet been thoroughly studied. Innovative interventions using effective strategies combined with a theory such as the anti-oppressive approach are poised to address the biases and stigma that surround mental illness, thereby reducing or eliminating entirely the disparities that exist in healthcare today.

The first product is a systematic literature review that focused on primary research that evaluated the effectiveness of …

Secondary Traumatic Stress Is An Occupational Hazard For Pet Hospice Support Staff: Psychoeducational Support Groups Provide The Cure, Kari Hayden

DSW Capstone Projects

There are three separate yet interrelated products presented in this final capstone product. The completed product is focused on pet hospice veterinary support staff and the need for an evidence-based social work intervention to combat secondary traumatic stress. This capstone uses the andragogical approach to adult learning theory as the foundation to construct a psychoeducational peer support group specific to this population. Implications for clinical social work in veterinary medicine are presented within this project.

The first scholarly product presented is the Systematic Literature Review (SLR). The SLR utilizes a scoping review process in an attempt to locate prior research …

International Social Work Field Education, Shelli Gregory

DSW Capstone Projects

International Social Work Field Education (ISWFE) involves a set of unique challenges. For the literature review of this capstone project 20 peer-reviewed journal articles written between the years 2009 and 2018 were reviewed to answer the following research question: What are the unique challenges associated with ISWFE and the best practices for combatting these challenges? The challenges most frequently mentioned in the literature are the perpetuation of colonial mindset; students experiencing emotional vulnerabilities, stress, & distress (guilt, shame, loneliness, fear, helplessness, isolation, and homesickness); supervisory issues; language barriers; funding; culture shock, disequilibrium, or clash; safety concerns; administrative problems such as …

Supportive Neighborhoods, Family Resilience And Flourishing In Childhood And Adolescence, Sheila Barnhart, Molly R. Bode, Michael C. Gearhart, Kathryn Maguire-Jack

Social Work Faculty Publications

Flourishing is linked with health and well-being in childhood and adulthood. This study applied a promotive factors model to examine how neighborhood assets might benefit child and adolescent flourishing by promoting family resilience. Using data from the combined 2018 and 2019 National Survey of Children’s Health, structural equation models tested direct and indirect relationships between neighborhood physical environment, neighborhood social cohesion, family resilience, and flourishing among 18,396 children and 24,817 adolescents. After controlling for multiple covariates that may influence flourishing, the models supported that higher levels of neighborhood social cohesion were directly associated with higher levels of flourishing adolescents, and …