Social Work Commons^™

Enhancing Family Functioning To Buffer Risk During Middle School Transition: Development Of The Multiple Family Group Weekend Retreat., Robert Broce

Theses and Dissertations

Children experience changes in multiple levels of their social ecologies when they transition into middle school (Eccles, 1999; Jozefowicz-Simbeni, 2008). These biological, psychological, social, and environmental changes create increased risk for dropout and other factors related to academic adjustment (Cataldi, Laird & KewalRamani, 2009). For low- income minority children these risks can be magnified by environmental and social factors (Ge et al., 2002). Healthy family functioning, including balanced levels of cohesion and flexibility, has been shown to buffer these risks (Burchinal, Roberts, Zeisel & Rowley, 2008; Olson, 2010; Wampler, Munsch, & Adams, 2002) and was targeted by a Multiple Family …

Disaster Management Policy And People With Disabilities In The United States And Jamaica, Jessica Jagger

Theses and Dissertations

Natural and human-influenced disasters impact every demographic group around the world. People with disabilities face unique barriers to disaster preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery related to functional needs and societal barriers. This study examines the relationship between emergency management planners and disability communities, by exploring the intent of emergency management policy, implementation of the policy, and the experiences of people with disabilities in Jamaica and Virginia. In this study, 36 people with disabilities were interviewed about their experiences with disaster, and 18 planners were interviewed about the intent and implementation of disaster management plans. Participants were from different communities across …

Distinguishing Between Homeless And Unstably Housed Men On Risk Factors For Homelessness, Valerie Holton

Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the risk factors for homelessness in single men, the largest group of people experiencing homelessness and a group about which little is known regarding their risks for homelessness. A case control design was used to differentiate risk factors between men who were homeless and men who were unstably housed. Risk factors included cumulative risk, negative life events, and demographic factors. Two models were tested using discriminant function analysis (DFA). The Cumulative Risk Model did not significantly differentiate between the two groups. However, the Negative Life Events Model yielded one discriminant function that significantly differentiated between the groups …

Organizational Culture And Partnership Process: A Grounded Theory Study Of Community-Campus Partnerships, Kready Sharon Foreman

Theses and Dissertations

Community engagement initiatives have experienced an increase in attention, appreciation, and participation among those in academic, nonprofit, and other community-based organizations over the past two decades. The purpose of this study is to explore the meanings of community-campus partnerships among stakeholders in the community and in academia towards the goal of generating a theory grounded in these data that will concomitantly contribute to the social work profession and the community engagement movement. Using as its foundation the shared interest among the social work profession and the community engagement movement on values and ethics, this study utilizes a traditional grounded theory …

Determinants Of Clergy Behaviors Promoting Safety Of Battered Korean Immigrant Women, Yoon Joon Choi

Theses and Dissertations

Studies have shown that not only are clergy members the first persons from whom battered women seek help, but also a great number of clergy counsel battered women every year (Martin, 1989; Rotunda, Williamson, & Penfold, 2004). The role of the church and clergy are especially critical for the Korean immigrant community in the U.S. because Korean immigrants greatly underutilize existing services and rely heavily on their respective churches for assistance with various issues, including domestic violence (Boodman, 2007; Kim, 1997). Korean churches and clergy members have the potential to be active partners in providing intervention services and to serve …

Experience Of Supervision Scale: The Development Of An Instrument To Measure Child Welfare Workers' Experience Of Supervisory Behaviors, Mary Parente

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop and test the Experience of Supervision Scale, which measures the experience of supervisory behaviors from the perspective of child welfare workers. Child welfare supervision is gaining increased attention as states struggle to improve performance measures of their child welfare systems. However, the lack of a standardized instrument which measures supervision through an analysis of supervisory behaviors from the supervisee’s perspective has hindered efforts in these areas. The Experience of Supervision Scale is based on Kadushin’s three function casework supervision model of supervision (administrative, educational, and supportive) which was chosen as the theoretical …

The Impact Of Deployment And Psychological Well-Being On Family Relationships: A Secondary Analysis Of Air Force Community Assessment Data, Keita Franklin

Theses and Dissertations

Airmen serving in the U.S. Air Force have made significant contributions to the overall war efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Deployment, combat exposure, and subsequent combat-related mental health issues can have effects that extended beyond the airmen to the family. The primary aim of this study was to determine the path through which such effects occur within the context of risk and protective factors. The risk factors identified in this study were: deployment length and frequency and psychological symptomology. The construct of social support was also examined as an identified protective factor. This study examined the relationships between all of …

Informing Social Work Practice Through The Enhancement Of The Biological Perspective: A Course Intervention Model For Human Service Professionals Working With Youth And Problems Of Conduct., Allison Sampson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention model designed to enhance practitioners’ biological lens when using a biopsychosocial-spiritual model of holistic assessment and planning. The specific intervention utilized is a course curriculum developed to broaden human service professionals’ (including clinical social work professionals) understanding of attachment theory, neuroscience and trauma informed methods of practice. The course teaches professionals how to apply this knowledge to clinical assessment and intervention planning with youth who have experienced significant trauma in their lives and exhibit problems of conduct. Using an experimental design, participants from a large private mental …

Family Preservation In Families’ Ecological Systems: Factors That Predict Out-Of-Home Placement And Maltreatment For Service Recipients In Richmond City, Jody Hearn

Theses and Dissertations

Family preservation services are intended to prevent the out-of-home placement (into foster care or some other alternative arrangement) of children and youth in families at risk of maltreating them. An Ecological Systems perspective of these families might suggest that a family’s context (represented by the variables of poverty, agency services, family history, and individual/caretaker characteristics) must be considered as an over-arching influence in families’ risk and outcomes. The purpose of this cross-sectional secondary data analysis study was to identify layered factors that distinguish family preservation cases in Richmond, VA that experience removal or subsequent abuse or neglect from those that …

Job And Personal Resources And Demands: The Effects On Job Satisfaction And Job Search Behavior Of Certified Nursing Assistants (Cnas) Working In Nursing Homes, Natsuko Ryosho

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to examine how job resources, job demands, personal resource, personal demands, and demographic characteristics predict job satisfaction and job search behavior of certified nursing assistants (CNAs) working in nursing homes. The study used data from the 2004 National Nursing Assistant Survey (NNAS). The job demands-resources (JD-R) model (Demerouti, Bakker, Nachreiner, & Schaufeli, 2001) provided the basis for the conceptual framework of the study. First, a series of multinomial logistic regression analyses were performed to determine how the five categories of predictor variables predicted the levels of job satisfaction among CNAs. Next, a series …

Contributions Of Neglect Subtypes And Family History In Dsm-Iv Disorders: Findings From The Ncs-R, Leanne Heaton

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the prevalence of neglect in the child welfare system, understanding of the etiology of neglect remains limited in scope. Limitations are driven by the frequent reliance on child protective services (CPS) data which consists of identified cases and consequently, the most serious of all cases, or through a few population based studies that operationalize neglect as a homogenous phenomenon rather than as distinct subtypes. Furthermore, most studies of neglect focus on maternal deficiencies while paternal factors are largely ignored. This study is meant to address these considerations by utilizing the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R), a broad population based …

Robust Protective Factors That Help Youths With A Parent Experiencing Depression Achieve Positive Adjustment, Hsing-Jung Chen

Theses and Dissertations

Based on a resilience framework, the purpose of this study was to address knowledge gaps about minority youths who lived in rural and poor areas, had a primary caregiver with a diagnosis of depression, and faced multiple psychosocial stressors. Three research objectives included: 1) To explore the association between ecological protective factors and four developmental outcomes-emotional adjustment, behavioral adjustment, school performance, and educational aspiration; 2) To identify the robust protective factors; and 3) To explore the interactive relationships between risk and robust protective factors. Families (N=126) where the primary caregiver had a diagnosis of major depression and had a child …

Environmental And Organizational Factors Influencing Similarities And Differences Between Nonprofit Human Service Providers That Are Faith-Based And Those With No Religious Affiliation, Geraldine Lewis Meeks

Theses and Dissertations

The American social welfare system is a mixed system consisting of loosely coupled government programs, private nonprofit and for-profit organizations, grassroots and religious entities. Although religious entities historically played a key role in the development of the social welfare system, the faith-based initiative of President George W. Bush targeted religious service providers to receive government funding and take on a larger role in service delivery to at-risk populations based on the belief that these providers were substantially different from traditional providers. Using a cross-sectional research design and a survey instrument created for the study, data was collected from 121 nonprofit …

Determinants Of International Long-Distance Eldercare: Evidence From Ghanaian Immigrants In The United States, Stephen Kodwo

Theses and Dissertations

Studies of Ghanaians who have immigrated to the United States indicate that both economic and emotional support continue to be provided to non-migrant families in Ghana. However support to “family relatives” has been studied generally, without specifying age. Thus, relationships between immigrants and their elderly relatives, particularly those who may be frail and vulnerable, have not been the focus of previous research. In addition, it is necessary to examine the dynamics that shape attitudes towards elderly people, and which in turn influence eldercare patterns among Ghanaian immigrants. Based on the literature, the researcher identified four factors relevant to international long-distance …

Intake Decision Making In Child Protective Services: Exploring The Influence Of Decision-Factors, Race, And Substance Abuse, Michael Howell

Theses and Dissertations

Child protective services begin with an intake (screening) decision to accept or reject maltreatment reports. This crucial decision may lead to significant positive or negative outcomes for children and families. Little is known about characteristics that intake decision-makers share or factors that influence the decision-making process. Racially-biased intake practices have been blamed for contributing to African American children’s disproportionate overrepresentation in the child welfare system. Concerns have emerged that social workers may hold negative stereotypes about African Americans and parents who use drugs. Stereotypical biases may influence decisions in reports alleging parental drug use and/or involving African American families. This …

Asian American Social Workers: Exploring Relationships Among Factors Influencing Career Choices, Soon Min Lee

Theses and Dissertations

Asian Americans are one of the fastest growing minority groups in the United States. One of the stereotypes associated with Asians is that they are more likely to choose careers in science, medicine, and engineering rather than social science, inclusive of social work, mass communication, or humanities (Leong & Serafica, 1995; Tang et al., 1999). This occupational stereotyping of Asians is not just a myth in that descriptive studies have shown that only a few Asians choose social work as a career (Lennon, 2005; NASW, 2006). Few studies exist on Asian Americans who do not choose Asian stereotypical career choices, …

Pathways To Drug Use Among Rural And Urban African American Adolescents: The Mediating And Moderating Effects Of Parent And Peer Influences, Trenette Clark

Theses and Dissertations

African American adolescents have traditionally engaged in drug use at disproportionately lower rates than youth of other ethnic groups. Nonetheless, African American youth and adults suffer disproportionately higher rates of drug-related consequences. This paradox is a health and social disparity that has been given fair attention but needs additional culturally intelligent theoretical and empirical explanations. Research that targets African American adolescent drug use has emerged but has failed to fully or moderately explain this paradox. The purpose of this study was to fill a gap in the literature by helping to explain the first part of the paradox, African American …

Program Approach For Childheaded Households In Zambia, Samson Chama

Theses and Dissertations

Using an emergent design, this study developed a program approach for young people in the child headed households of Zambia. Phase I dealt with prior ethnography, Phase II focused on independent living services, and Phase III concerned translation to Zambia. A total of 36 participants from Richmond, consisting of 20 Richmond Department of Social Services workers and youth and 16 Africans, were recruited. Three major themes emerged: feasibility, content, and quality. Lessons learned about translational research highlight the need for uniformity in a cultural screen’s composition. This might enhance the richness of perspectives on young people. Lessons for the Department …

The Effects Of Family, School And Peer Support On The Achievement Outcomes Of African American Adolescents, M. Annette Clayton

Theses and Dissertations

This study used survey design to explore the relationship between protective influences (support from parents, teachers and peers, social capital assets, and social support use), contextual risks, and two achievement outcomes in a representative sample of male and female African American high school seniors (N=317). Responses to two questionnaires, weighted cumulative grade point averages, and eleventh grade Virginia English Reading Standards of Learning test scores were analyzed. Multiple regression analysis revealed that some support variables were predictive of better achievement outcomes and others were associated with poorer outcomes. Three of the parent support predictors were associated with poorer achievement outcomes, …

Informal Caregivers Of Advanced Cancer Patients: The Impact Of Geographic Proximity On Social Support And Bereavement Adjustment, John Garland Cagle

Theses and Dissertations

This research explored the social and psychological needs of caregivers of advanced cancer patients, and their subsequent bereavement adjustment. The study focuses exclusively on informal caregivers who provide assistance to patients receiving hospice care for end-stage cancer. Those individuals living furthest from the dying care recipient, the long distance caregivers, were of particular interest. This study used a prospective design to explore how a caregiver's geographic proximity impacted their social support and bereavement adjustment. A 2 x 3 repeated measures design was used to gather data from caregivers before a patient's death (using a pre-death questionnaire) as well as after …

Faith-Based Organizations And Legislative Advocacy: A Qualitative Inquiry, M. Lori Thomas

Theses and Dissertations

Since the early 1990s, religion and matters of faith and spirituality have become a focal point in numerous arenas beyond the individual and traditionally sacred. With President George W. Bush's White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives of 2001, the Charitable Choice provision of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act that preceded it in 1996, and the myriad of legal challenges that followed, matters of religion have become paramount in political discourse regarding social welfare. The viability of faith-based social service provision and the organizations providing the direct services have been the focus of speculation, debate, and …

Merging Task-Centered Social Work And Motivational Interviewing In Outpatient Medication Assisted Substance Abuse Treatment: Model Development For Social Work Practice, Andreas Fassler

Theses and Dissertations

To advance social work practice and decrease the research practice gap, this dissertation followed a model development paradigm consisting of several phases. Based on the task-centered model of social work practice and motivational interviewing, a new combined model was construed. The two underlying models were analyzed and synthesized, using technical eclecticism as the integrative approach. The resulting combined model was described by guidelines and manualized. To test the combined model in an applied setting, a study was designed in collaboration with social workers at a substance abuse counseling center. There, the combined model intervention was implemented in an outpatient medication …

Victims' Perspectives On The Process Of Seeking A Protective Order: Predictors Of Perceived Empowerment, Sara-Beth Plummer

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined victims' perceived sense of empowerment during the process of seeking a Preliminary Protective Order. A cross sectional survey design with stratified sampling was used to gather information from women seeking Preliminary Protective Orders in Richmond City, Virginia. During a six month period 89 women agreed to participate, for a response rate of 83 percent. In general, the sample consisted of women who identified themselves as African-American, single, with either a high school/GED degree, and/or some college education.Overall, the women found the steps during the process of seeking an Order, either easy or very easy. In general, the …

Constraints On Breastfeeding Choices For Low Income Mothers, Carol Grace Hurst

Theses and Dissertations

The choice to breastfeed a baby is a woman's concern with impact reaching beyond each individual mother and child to longer term health and mental health outcomes for society. The U.S. government has made increasing breastfeeding rates one of its major public health goals for 2010. Breastfeeding is a health disparity issue with mothers who are poor, young, less educated or Black less likely to breastfeed. This project examined impacts of sexual perceptions of breastfeeding, social support, and work on breastfeeding choices made by a sample of low income mothers. A cross-sectional survey design was employed to examine potential barriers …

The Multiple Meanings Of Domestic Violence: A Constructivist Inquiry, Monica Rene' Leisey

Theses and Dissertations

Spurred by the work of the Battered Women's Movement, domestic violence has been responded to since it emerged as a problem in the 1970s. At first the response was providing places for victims to stay and recover from the violence while also providing opportunities for consciousness raising and empowerment work. As domestic violence became a more recognized problem, policies were created and enacted to end the problem. Through the 1980s and 1990s, changes in federal policies in regards to domestic violence were incorporated. The criminal justice system began incorporating such policies as mandatory arrest and no-drop prosecution policies as well …

Child Care Decision Making Among Parents Of Young Children: A Constructivist Inquiry, Kathleen Albright Didden

Theses and Dissertations

In order to understand parents' child care decision making for young children (under 6), this interpretive research interviewed 24 parents and 7 child care professionals from a mid-sized region in Virginia. Using a constructivist research design, the research question explored how parents make child care decisions. Working hypotheses focused the data collection on the role of experience in shaping parents' preferences, the relationship between family needs and child care decisions, and the interactions with family and child care services. The research product is a narrative case study. Child care decision making is conceptualized as an ongoing process bounded by the …

Conceptualizing Hoarding Behavior Among Elderly Women: A Mixed-Methods Approach, Susan Jan Murdock

Theses and Dissertations

Hoarding in the community involves substantial cluttering and impaired functioning, often exposing the hoarder to extensive health and safety risks. This research, based on Functionalism social theory, explores the three elements of hoarding—relentless acquisition, intense possessiveness of objects, and a reluctance to discard possessions—as a sociocultural phenomenon. The mixed methods methodology entailed a quantitative study involving a survey completed by 134 adult protective services workers throughout Virginia and a qualitative study of five randomly-selected adult protective services workers who volunteered for in-depth interviews.Findings revealed that adult protective services workers come in contact with very severe cases of hoarding, with over …

The Financial Feasibility Of Marriage For Women Receiving Tanf: An Analysis Of Six States, Sally Margaret Brocksen

Theses and Dissertations

This project employed a descriptive case study methodology guided by rational choice theory to examine the financial feasibility of marriage for low income women. By modeling the income and expenses of eight different low income family types in six states (Arizona, California, New York, Oklahoma, Virginia, and Wisconsin) this study illustrates the financial situation of various low income families. The family types under investigation include: a single parent family, a family receiving TANF, cohabiting couple with two wage earners, cohabiting couple with one wage earner, a married family with two wage earners, a married couple with one wage earner, a …

Addiction And Recovery Experiences Of African American Women: A Phenomenological Study, Patricia Diana Hill

Theses and Dissertations

Historically, substance abuse research has for the most part excluded African American women. The small body of existing substance abuse research regarding African American women does not examine gender and socio-cultural issues from African American women's perspectives. The purpose of this phenomenological study is to develop a deeper, contextual understanding of the experiences and perspectives of this marginalized population of women. The major goal of the study is to examine the perspectives of African American women about their substance abuse, treatment and recovery. The knowledge gained from this research with African American women regarding their experiences and specific needs in …

Utilizing A Structuration Perspective To Examine Perceptions Of Labor Market Opportunities & Constraints In A Distressed Urban Neighborhood, Sharon M. Mcdonald

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to understand how members of an urban extreme poverty neighborhood experience the labor market and how they perceive the role of social policies and institutions that attempt to facilitate or mediate employment opportunities.

Residents of extreme poverty neighborhoods have been the subject of numerous public policy efforts designed to ameliorate the geographic concentration of poverty as well as strategies to promote work participation based on existing theoretical models of how work participation can be induced. It is argued that the predominant theoretical models that shape inquiry and the development of policy recommendations are incomplete …