Social Work Commons^™

Hollman V Cisneros: The Hollman Consent Decree, A Policy Analysis, David C. Broberg

Theses and Graduate Projects

The Hollman Consent Decree was the negotiated settlement in 1995 of a class action lawsuit, Hollman v Cisneros, filed in the fourth district federal judicial court in 1992 by the Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis and the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, alleging racial discrimination by the City of Minneapolis and its public housing authority.

Despite the decrees call for the relocation of the public housing residents of the four north-side housing projects to areas of lower race and poverty concentrations, the majority of families relocated to other neighborhoods on the north side …

Social Work Burnout And Supportive Supervision, Kathryn L. Jarl

Theses and Graduate Projects

It is widely agreed that social work has an emotional and stressful load that can lead to social worker burnout. Burnout needs to be clearly defined and the different variables causing stress leading to burnout need to be fully understood in order to implement appropriate preventative strategies. Burnout is defined as the emotional depletion felt from a continuous drain on one's personal reserves. Burnout has three different components: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and lack of personal accomplishment. The findings suggest that the type of supervision has an impact on social worker burnout. Supervision is divided into its three functions: administrative, educational, …

Assessing Cultural Receptivity In Fostering: Scale Development And Validation, Tanya M. Coakley

Doctoral Dissertations

A shortage of foster parents of diverse cultures coupled with the problem of an overrepresentation of children of minority cultures in the child welfare system has resulted in a dire need to place children in families that do not share cultures (i.e., transcultural placements). Children in foster and adoptive placements suffer the loss of their birth families and are at risk for losing knowledge about their past generations (Deberry, Scarr, & Weinberg, 1996; Thoburn, Norford, & Rashid, 2000). Children in transcultural placements are further at-risk for consequent loss of their cultural heritages. Therefore, it is imperative for transcultural foster parents …

The Quest For Housing, Leslie Moore

Theses and Graduate Projects

What are the factors that affect the ability of a person with serious and persistent mental illness to maintain stable housing? People with serious and persistent mental illness face many challenges to find and/or maintain stable housing. Interviews were conducted with 12 individuals with serious and persistent mental illness. Structured individual interviews concentrated on each participant's ability to find housing, how the participant found current and past housing (past two years), if he or she was assisted in the process, and identified any difficulties encountered while seeking housing. A second aspect of the study focused on the challenges each individual …

Evaluation Of A Court-Ordered Divorce Education Program In A Suburban Minnesota County, Solveig Erickson

Theses and Graduate Projects

Minnesota requires divorcing parents to attend education programs that increase their awareness of relevant laws and court processes, the effects of divorce on children and the importance of communication skills in divorce. The purpose of this program evaluation was to explore participants' reactions to the court-ordered divorce education classes in a suburban Minnesota county. A systematic random sample of 70 exit surveys collected in 1999 was selected for the second class, focusing on needs of children in a divorce, in a series of three classes that comprise the program. The survey questions focused on what participants found most helpful, what …

Recipes For Reform: Americanization And Foodways In Chicago Settlement Houses, 1890-1920, Stephanie J. Jass

Dissertations

During the late nineteenth century as tens of thousands of immigrants flooded American cities, public debate among reformers--who tended to be middle-class, white, Anglo-Saxon Protestants--began to center on the best ways to assimilate these foreigners into American society. Although some Americanization groups stressed language and citizenship training, two major reform movements focused on foodways as an important tool of assimilation.

This dissertation examines how both the home economics and settlement house movements attempted to Americanize ethnic food practices. It describes why reformers saw foodways as a viable and meaningful avenue for reform, as well as the varied responses that reformers …

An Examination Of The Psychometric Properties Of The Casey Foster Applicant Inventory – Worker Version (Cfai-W), Gary S. Cuddeback

Doctoral Dissertations

Foster family applicants form the pool from which caregivers are selected for the day-to-day care of the many vulnerable children placed in foster care, but limited research exists concerning the reliability and validity of standardized measures for assessing the potential of foster family applicants to provide successful foster care. This dissertation examines the psychometric properties of the Casey Foster Applicant Inventory – Worker Version (CFAI-W), a paper and pencil tool designed to assess the strengths and training and service needs of family foster care applicants.

Retrospective data were collected from 208 foster care workers who had at least one year …

Frame Analysis Of The Living Wage Campaign And Social Work Implications, Katherine Ann Mcclernon-Chaffin

Masters Theses

The general aim of this study was to examine the living age movement and how frame alignment fits into social work practice. This research was developed from a limited empirical and theoretical base surrounding the living wage as a social movement. Frame alignment is becoming a tool that more and more people should know how to use. Frame alignment has been a key component in propelling social movements into society in order to effect change. This research is an examination of frame alignment, specifically the living wage movement and how it fits into effective social work practice.

The data were …

Spirituality And Self-Efficacy In Counseling And Social Work Trainees, Pam J. Matthews

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships of the counseling/social work trainee spirituality and religion/spirituality awareness to trainee self-efficacy in counseling clients with religious/spiritual issues or backgrounds. In addition, the study explored the influence of demographic variables on spirituality, religion/spirituality awareness, and self-efficacy including: (a) religious/spiritual affiliation (Christian, Non-Christian), (b) ethnicity (Caucasian, Non-Caucasian), (c) training/accreditation program affiliation, (d) gender, and (e) age.

The Relationship Between Religious Programs And Peer Relationships Of Adults With Mental Retardation, Cecilia D. Beasley

Theses & Honors Papers

This research was intended to look at the relationship between attendance at religious programs on the peer relationships and spirituality of adults with mental retardation. The literature reviews the benefits of spirituality for all individuals, the characteristics of individuals with mental retardation, and the influences of peer relationships. Fifty-nine surveys about the individual's spiritual development, happiness, peer relationships and criminality as well as the importance of religious functions were completed by adults with and without mental retardation. The results indicate that attendance at religious activities does in fact impact spirituality and peer relationships of individuals with mental retardation. They also …

Bullying: What Is It, Who Is Involved And Why Should We Care?, Jeffrey A. Schoeberl

Theses and Graduate Projects

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact that bullying has had on 5th at one suburban school. Using a self-administered survey on a population of 55 students (n = 55), approximately 17% of students report being the victim of a bully and nearly 8% report bullying others. Over 7 percent of subjects reported missing a day of school or avoiding other parts of the school for fear of encountering a bully. In addition, victimized students reported substantially more fear in the school environment than non-victimized students. This study suggests that a substantial proportion of students in our …

Low Self-Esteem As It Relates To Anxiety And Depression, Joel B. Makowski

Masters Theses

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the relationship between low self-esteem and anxiety and/or depression. Participants were selected based on their subjective experience of having high or low self-esteem. Low self-esteem participants were then selected on the basis of their subjective assessment of attributing anxiety/and or depression to their low self-esteem experience. Two high self-esteem and two low self-esteem participants were interviewed.

High self-esteem participants were found to base their self-worth and respect on an internal locus of evaluation. They did not identify any notable anxiety or depression. Low self-esteem participants were found to base their worth …

Applying The Transtheoretical Model To Cigarette Smoking By Pregnant And Parenting Adolescent Females, Barbara Mary Sussex

Dissertations and Theses

An unacceptably high number of pregnant and parenting adolescent females smoke cigarettes, and the majority who quit during pregnancy relapse within six months postpartum. This dissertation examined measures from the Transtheoretical Model of Change (TMC) and variables associated with smoking behavior in a population of pregnant and parenting females 18 years-of-age and under. Data were from the baseline survey of 245 young women enrolled in a three-year randomized controlled trial through a teen parent program in Portland, Oregon. The objectives were: 1) to investigate whether factors identified in the literature as associated with initiating and quitting smoking were associated with …

Operacionalización De La Política Pública De Atención A La Población Desplazada En La Ciudad De Bogotá D.C. 1999 - 2002, Rafael Alberto Zambrano Vanegas

Trabajo Social

No abstract provided.

Interorganizational Collaboration: An Examination Of Factors That Influence The Motivation For Participation In A Collaborative Partnership Of Homeless Service Providers, Jan Marva Ivery

Theses and Dissertations

This project was a mixed methods study that examined the collaboration dimensions of Homeward's planning process and the factors that motivate organizations to participate. The study examined the collaborative strategy used by an organization called Homeward located in Richmond, Virginia. Homeward is a broker organization (Chaskin, Brown, Venkatesh, & Vidal, 2001) that was created in 1998 to mediate and nurture relationships among partnering organizations in order to facilitate the collaborative process required by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to receive Continuum of Care funding. During the quantitative component of the study, a survey was sent …

Community And School Violence: An Ethnographic Study, Martha Santiago

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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The Perceived Influence Of Spirituality In Adolescent Residential Group Homes, Karima Aisha Deadrick-Boone

Theses Digitization Project

This qualitative study explores the perceived influence of spirituality on ethnic minority adolescent's outcomes in faith-based residential group homes. Study results offer a deeper understanding of the influence and implementation of spiritual practices among children impacted by child welfare.

Youths' Perceptions Of An Independent Living Program, Valorie Albertina Alba, Gloriana Parral

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study was to examine the County of San Bernardino's Independent Living Program's (ILP's) efforts to prepare ILP participants for self-sufficiency. These efforts were evaluated from the perspective of foster youth who are currently participating in an Indepent Living Program. The study utilized quantitative and qualitative research methods to assess the ILP participants' preparedness for independence.

Women's Perception Of Substance Abuse Treatment And How It Affects Compliance, Jessica Lynn Watkins

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study was to investigate how women's perceptions of the helpfulness of services received at a substance abuse treatment clinic affected their compliance with the treatment program. The study surveyed thirty-two women who were receiving treatment from Inland Behavioral and Health Services. The study investigated the efficacy of these elements: parenting classes, health classes, substance abuse therapy groups, group therapy, drug screening, health clinics, Narcotics Anonymous meetings, Dual Diagnosis Anonymous meetings, Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, homeless support services, individual therapy, case managers, daycare, transportation.

Acculturation Among A Hispanic Population In San Bernardino County, Jennifer Marie Costa, Maria Lorena Ochoa

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between Hispanics and their levels of acculturation. This study's intent was to incorporate variables in order to identify generation and language as defining factors for acculturation. A Likert-type Bidemensional Acculturation Scale for Hispanics (BAS) was used to test six hypotheses.

How Do Child Welfare Workers Attitudes Affect Utilization Of Gays And Lesbians As Adoptive Parents, Constance Cameron Clifford, Victoria Ann Kohfeld

Theses Digitization Project

Social workers' attitudes, beliefs and values have been shown to effect how they evalute and process gay adoptive parents paperwork.

Teaching Strategies For Foster Care Students With Behavior Problems, Nikki Ann Console

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study is to research behavior problems of children in foster care and to identify teaching strategies and techniques for teachers who have foster children in their classrooms and experience difficulties working with them. The project examines the types of behavior problems displayed by abused children.

Perceptions Of Motivation In The Recovery Process Among African American Women With Children, Raven Nicole Pagson

Theses Digitization Project

Substance abusing women with children are a diverse group, but some of them are among the most disadvantaged individuals in the United States. These women are in dire need of effective treatment modalities in order to sustain sobriety. Using a quantitative research design, this study examines the perception of motivation in the recovery process among African American women with children. Through research surveys these women identify the motivating factors necessary for successful treatment outcomes. Scales were created to measure extrinsic motivators, intrinsic motivators, and barriers to treatment. Factors examined included attendance at twelve step meetings, church attendance, court mandates, family …

Correlations Between Stigma And Self-Esteem In Mental Health Consumers, Marilyn Dee Pitts

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study was to measure correlations of stigma with self-esteem among individuals who are receiving treatment for a mental illness.

A Closer Look At The Professional Relationship Of Children's Social Workers And Teachers In Regard To The Education Of Foster Children, Marnae Latrice Potts, Koumay Yang

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this project is to explore the extent of interaction between teachers and foster children's social workers in regard to their education.

Substance Abuse Treatment: Perceptions From The Client's Point Of View, Margarita Brunilda Salazar

Theses Digitization Project

The focus of this study was to explore and analyze the perceptions of treatment effectiveness among substance abuse clients involved in Bilingual Family Counseling Outpatient Treatment. The intent was to have a better understanding of a treatment centers program's outcome from the clients' point of view and its effectiveness in terms of the usefulness to the client.

Attitudes Of African American Women Toward Marriage-Related Issues, Andrew Lewayne Williams

Theses Digitization Project

This study presents results from a survey of 108 African American women. Survey questions covered attitudes towards marriage, qualities of an ideal spouse, and opinions of African American men in general.

Client Functionality, Filial Abuse And Agency Interventions, Julie Anne Hibbs, Stephen Michael Thomas

Theses Digitization Project

This study explores the relationship between the client's functionality, alleged filial abuse, and the effect of interventions as they relate to future Adult Protective Services (APS) referrals.

Foster Parent Satisfaction, Lila Marie Martin

Theses Digitization Project

The findings of this study offer agencies useful ways to develop social relationships with foster parents and to implement useful and accessible training opportunities. Strengthening what works well frees agencies to promote these areas to recruit new parents and simultaneously maintain quality foster homes.

Latino Emancipated Foster Youth Perceptions, Minerva Barcenas

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study is to obtain a profile of San Bernardino Latino foster emancipated youth regarding their positive and challenging experiences. The focus is on emancipated youth and immigrant acculturation. The study examined the kinds of programs and factors that have had the most success in enabling foster youth to become independent adults.