Social Work Commons^™

Social Support And Survival Strategies Of Older African American Grandmother Caregivers, Gaynell M. Simpson, Tracy D. Pressley, Dana L. Carthron, Kim Stansbury

GrandFamilies: The Contemporary Journal of Research, Practice and Policy

The effects of caring for grandchildren on grandparents’ emotional and physical well-being have become a significant area of focus in behavioral and medical research. Research suggests that African American grandmothers may experience increased mental and physical health challenges due to their caregiving stressors. To buffer the adverse influence of stress, caregivers often rely on informal social support from family and/or community members. In this study we explored older, African American caregivers’ management of their emotional well-being within the context and circumstances of available to minimal social support from family and community. During an 18-month period, seven caregiving grandmothers participated in …

Mapping The Needs Of Kinship Providers: A Mixed-Method Examination, J. Jay Miller, Jessica Donohue-Dioh

GrandFamilies: The Contemporary Journal of Research, Practice and Policy

This study utilized Concept Mapping (CM) to examine the needs of 105 kinship caregivers in one southeastern state, and to examine priority differences in conceptualization by placement type (formal vs. informal). CM is a mixed-method research methodology that employs multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analyses to examine relationships among sets of data. Results indicate that kinship providers conceptualize needs via an eight-cluster solution, or concept map. As well, data suggest key priority differences between informal and formal caregivers in areas of financial, legal, and public outreach needs. After a brief review of literature about kinship care, this paper will …

2017 Evaluation Report, Department Of Social Work, Kutztown University Of Pennsylvania

Annual Conference on Social Work in the Global Environment

The Theme for the 2017 conference was "How do we build a fair, just and peaceful world? Local efforts with global implications."

“I Don’T Fit In A Box; No One Does:” Intersectionality And Gay Male Identity, Jesse L. Grainger, Brent E. Cagle

The Winthrop McNair Research Bulletin

Using an intersectionality framework, this qualitative study explores how stigma affects identity development and how intersecting identities can compound to either foster resiliency or create health concerns for 11 men who are emerging adults (18-29), same sex identified, African American, HIV +, and homeless. Semi-structured one-on-one interviews were conducted through RAIN (Regional Aids Interfaith Network) in Charlotte, NC. Questions were formulated to understand how participants view themselves and perceived stigmas, current/past health conditions, and their five to ten year prospects. This study uses grounded theory as a guide to analyze and interpret data. Themes explored include: risks (acquiring HIV through …

Fair Housing And Inclusive Communities, Molly W. Metzger, Amy T. Khare

Center for Social Development Research

Residential segregation—by race and by income—is a fundamental driver of inequality in the United States. Segregated living patterns undergird many of the social problems faced by disadvantaged populations. Solutions to segregation include interventions that create housing opportunity in higher income areas, preserve affordability in gentrifying areas, and target investment to the areas most in need. The realization of fair housing and the creation of inclusive communities would be bolstered by innovation in community–academic partnerships.

Productive Engagement Early In Life: Civic And Volunteer Service As A Pathway To Development, Benjamin J. Lough, Margaret S. Sherraden, Amanda Moore Mcbride, Michael Sherraden, Suzanne Pritzer

Center for Social Development Research

Globalization and information-age technology have led to declines in labor market opportunity, especially for youth. In this paper, we suggest a robust emphasis on civic and volunteer service as one promising policy response. Service can promote civic engagement, meaningful roles in society, and work experience, while making substantial contributions to social and economic well-being. The classic historical example is the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) created by President Franklin Roosevelt during the Depression of the 1930s. The CCC was enormously productive and enjoyed strong bipartisan political support. In order to re-create this potential, policies for civic and volunteer service should be …

Faith-Based Civil Society Organizations And The Protection Of Victims Of Human Rights Abuses In Nigeria, Nathaniel Umukoro

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Nigeria has witnessed various forms of human rights violations such as extrajudicial killings, rape, and torture during both military and civilian regimes. Amnesty International, the U.S. State Department, and the Political Terror Scale of the Centre for Systemic Peace indicate that Nigeria is a country characterized by generalized human rights violations.

Over the years, several scholars have examined the causes, nature, responses of the state, and reasons for the persistence of human rights violations in Nigeria. A careful consideration of these studies indicates that the role of faith-based civil society organizations in the protection of victims of human rights abuses …

We Have A Sacred Duty To House All Homeless Veterans, Christopher R. Fee, Joshua L. Stewart

English Faculty Publications

In a letter to Congress urging the nation to pay what it owed to veterans of the Continental Army, George Washington voiced his firm conviction that we as honorable Americans would “never leave unpaid the debt of gratitude” to those brave souls who “rescued by their arms from impending ruin” the fledgling United States. (excerpt)

Grand Challenges In School Social Work: Collaboration And Constraint In School Social Workers’ Sexuality Support For Children With Disabilities, Sharon J. Bolin, Heidi Adams Rueda, Kristen Faye Linton

Social Work Faculty Publications

Children with disabilities (CWD) face challenges to the development of their sexuality, in part due to a lack of appropriate, tailored sexual education in schools, role ambiguity regarding provision of sexual health services, and widespread discomfort with the topic. However, CWD have unique sexual health needs, an increased vulnerability to sexual and other forms of violence, and desire for skills and knowledge to build relationships. Using a phenomenological lens, authors conducted semistructured interviews with eight school social workers to understand how they are working with other professionals to support sexual and relational health of CWD (ages three to 11). Results …

The Forgotten Ones: Domestic Child Soldiers In The United States, Jesse Bach

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

The term child soldier conjures up images of a war-torn Sub-Saharan African child holding a battle-worn rifle, staring into the distance of an uncertain future. Their story is well known: A paramilitary organization entered an area and forcibly recruited children to engage in conflict — protecting arms, drugs, or "turf." Through the marketing of the child soldier story and its emotional response, the international community has been moved to action through hosting awareness raising campaigns, generating mass donations for care, and establishing recovery and rehabilitation programs.

There is no doubt that the international child soldier is viewed as a victim …

Multi-Method Research In Partnership With Myanmar Refugee Women In Dallas, Texas: Understanding How Ethnic Diversity Influences The Design And Development Of A Resettlement Community Center, Chie Noyori Corbett, David Moxley

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Founded in 2015, the Myanmar Women's Research Project (MWRP) incorporates multiple participatory methods to help refugee women from Myanmar/Burma conceive of, conceptualize, develop, and sustain a community center devoted to resettlement. The project recognizes the multiple ethnicities and religious groups composing the Myanmar community and is committed to multi-ethnic participation of Myanmar women who form a community with considerable need for resettlement assistance.

Indeed, refugees from Myanmar are some of the most vulnerable in the United States, and they face numerous challenges in accommodating American culture. The city of Dallas hosts one of the largest Myanmar communities in the United …

The Path (Partners Against Trafficking In Humans) Project: Development Of The Path Model, Fanell Williams

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

The University of Toledo’s Human Trafficking and Social Justice Institute is conducting the PATH (Partners Against Trafficking in Humans) Project to develop the PATH Model. The PATH Project is a community-wide, coordinated, and data-driven response to human trafficking. PATH applies the structure and techniques from a successful and focused healthcare model called the Pathways Model. The vision is for the PATH Model to become an evidence-based model expanded throughout the United States.

PATH coordinates existing services to create a transparent, accountable, and comprehensive system to move clients along the continuum of care. The goal is to move victims from survivors …

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Role Of Trauma And Poverty In Decision-Making: Implications For Otda Practices, Carolyn Hilarski Ph.D.

Public Assistance Development Programs

Decision-making is defined as a method of selecting a particular option among a set of alternatives expecting to produce a desirable outcome. Decision-making is a complex process and can be particularly daunting depending upon an individual’s circumstances. Adults seeking financial assistance and other supports from public and private human services agencies may have significant challenges with the decision-making process due to their current circumstances.

Research suggests poverty affects higher-level thinking skills, including decision-making. One explanation poses a relationship between the state of poverty, the stress/trauma response, and impaired decision-making. For example, studies indicate that when people are experiencing fear and …

Pathways To Delinquency And Substance Use Among African American Youth: Does Future Orientation Mediate The Effects Of Peer Norms And Parental Monitoring?, Dexter R. Voisin

Faculty Scholarship

The following study assessed whether future orientation mediated the effects of peer norms and parental monitoring on delinquency and substance use among 549 African American adolescents. Structural equation modeling computed direct and indirect (meditational) relationships between parental monitoring and peer norms through future orientation. Parental monitoring significantly correlated with lower delinquency through future orientation (B = −.05, standard deviation =.01, p <.01). Future orientation mediated more than quarter (27.70%) of the total effect of parental monitoring on delinquency. Overall findings underscore the importance of strengthening resilience factors for African American youth, especially those who live in low-income communities.

Guide Lines Vol. I, Issue 11 - November 2017, College Of Health And Human Services

GUIDE Lines

Periodic Newsletter of the Governors State University - University of Illinois, Chicago - Disparities Education Cancer research training and education project (The GUIDE Project).

Ethics For Helping Professionals: Teaching A Framework That Supports Collaborative Ethical Decision-Making, Laura E. Kaplan, Valerie Bryan, Scott Sanders

Barbara Solomon School of Social Work Publications

Social work professionals are often employed in interdisciplinary settings with nursing, psychology, medical, and psychiatric professionals. All of these professions have commonality in their codes of ethics such as the primary principle that we work for the client or patient’s benefit. However, we also know that these same codes do not specifically address ethical dilemmas and their resolution (ACA, 2014, ANA, 2011, AMA/ APA, 2013, AMA,2001, APA, 2010, NASW, 2015). There are numerous decision making models that can be used as a step-by-step process in deciding what to do when confronted by a dilemma (Congress, 1996; Strom-Gottfried, 2007). All of …

Telling The Story: National And Local Soc Evaluation, Betty Walton, Isaac Karikari, Christine Marie Bishop

Faculty Publications

With foundation and grant funding for behavioral health, social services, and integrated health initiatives come requirements to collect and report data. State and local grantees, partners, and stakeholders can combine such requirements with local quality improvement and evaluation initiatives to tell their story and to manage initiatives. To support local system of care (SOC) coordinators in collecting and using grant and relevant information, basic grant requirements are reviewed in the context of using the information to support decisions, to monitor progress, and to improve outcomes.

Building Blocks: A Multi-Theoretical Preventative Model To Promote Post-Traumatic Growth, Jared S. Becknell

Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice

The following is an exploratory model to understand the factors that promote growth after traumatic events, also known as post-traumatic growth (PTG). Additionally, the hope is to inspire further research and create quantitative data regarding the effectiveness of these factors, add additional interventions and integrate into crisis/trauma paradigms during recovery. Therefore, clients would be more equipped to handle the possibility of another event. When PTG occurs, victims of trauma experience increased positive well-being, life satisfaction and regain a new compassion for meaning or purpose in their life. By utilizing the following interventions, victims of past traumatic events can live a …

Ethics For Helping Professionals: Teaching A Framework That Supports Collaborative Ethical Decision-Making, Laura E. Kaplan, Valerie Bryan, Scott Sanders

Walden Faculty and Staff Publications

Social work professionals are often employed in interdisciplinary settings with nursing, psychology, medical, and psychiatric professionals. All of these professions have commonality in their codes of ethics such as the primary principle that we work for the client or patient’s benefit. However, we also know that these same codes do not specifically address ethical dilemmas and their resolution (ACA, 2014, ANA, 2011, AMA/ APA, 2013, AMA,2001, APA, 2010, NASW, 2015). There are numerous decision making models that can be used as a step-by-step process in deciding what to do when confronted by a dilemma (Congress, 1996; Strom-Gottfried, 2007). All of …

Polyclonal Pulmonary Tuberculosis Infections And Risk For Multidrug Resistance, Lima, Peru, Ruvandhi R. Nathavitharana, Cynthia X. Shi, Leonid. Chindelevitch, Roger Calderon, Zibiao Zhang, Jerome T. Galea, Carmen C. Contreras, Rosa Yataco, Leonid Lecca, Mercedes C. Becerra, Megan B. Murray, Ted Cohen

Social Work Faculty Publications

Because within-host Mycobacterium tuberculosis diversity complicates diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis (TB), we measured diversity prevalence and associated factors among 3,098 pulmonary TB patients in Lima, Peru. The 161 patients with polyclonal infection were more likely than the 115 with clonal or the 2,822 with simple infections to have multidrug-resistant TB.

Queerness And Dating Violence Among Adolescent Mothers In Foster Care, Autumn M. Bermea, Heidi Adams Rueda, Michelle L. Toews

Social Work Faculty Publications

Adolescent mothers, queer, and foster youth are all groups at heightened vulnerability for teen dating violence victimization. It is unknown how mothers in residential foster care perceive and experience violence within same-sex relationships. Literature suggests, however, that violence within these contexts may be met by minimization and even denial on behalf of practitioners (e.g., social workers) who may not have a comprehensive understanding of how to best serve queer clients, especially clients who may not be automatically perceived as queer (e.g., adolescent mothers). The present study utilized a mixed qualitative methodological approach to triangulate the perspectives of program staff ( …

Understanding Neurobiology Of Psychological Trauma; Tips For Working With Transition-Age Youth, Julie M. Rosenzweig, Pauline Jivanjee, Eileen Brennan, Leigh Grover, Anthony Abshire

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This tip sheet introduces service providers to scientifically-informed findings about brain development and trauma specific to young adults and the implications for trauma-informed interventions and trauma-informed engagement of young people in services.

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

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

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

The Transformation Process Of Fathers Of Children With Disabilities: An Exploratory Case Study, Holly F. Pedersen Ed.D., Dionne Spooner Ph.D

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

While the vital role that fathers play in the development of their children is emphasized in recent literature, the majority of research relative to child development focuses on mothers. This imbalance is even more evident relative to research with parents of children with disabilities, leaving human service providers with few evidence based practices for appropriately addressing the needs of fathers raising children with disabilities. Research suggests that having a child with a disability, while challenging, can also have a significant positive impact on the family system and potentially offer a transformational experience for the parent. Guided by a theoretical model …

Financial Literacy In China: Priorities And A Direction, Yiqing Yuan, Minchao Jin

Center for Social Development Research

Growing income disparity, a shrinking social welfare system, expanding financial markets, and diversifying financial products have pushed economically vulnerable groups in China into greater disadvantage in recent decades. The government has acknowledged the urgency of this situation, which underscores the micro- and macro-level importance of financial literacy and of its study. In general, there are two priorities in efforts to study financial literacy in China. One is theoretical, and the other is empirical. The theoretical priority, which comes from Western research, is to develop conceptual precision; the financial-literacy framework is not well defined, fails to differentiate among related concepts, and …

Project Ngage: Results Of A Randomized Controlled Trial Of A Dyadic Network Support Intervention To Retain Young Black Men Who Have Sex With Men In Hiv Care, Dexter R. Voisin

Faculty Scholarship

HIV-positive young black MSM (YBMSM) experience poor outcomes along the HIV care continuum, yet few interventions have been developed expressly for YBMSM retention in care. Project nGage was a randomized controlled trial conducted across five Chicago clinics with 98 HIV-positive YBMSM aged 16–29 between 2012 and 2015. The intervention used a social network elicitation approach with index YBMSM (n = 45) to identify and recruit a support confidant (SC) to the study. Each index-SC dyad met with a social worker to improve HIV-care knowledge, activate dyadic social support, and develop a retention in care plan. Each index and SC also …

The Social, Economic, And Public Health Consequences Of Global Population Aging: Implications For Social Work Practice And Public Policy, Mitchell A. Kaplan, Marian M. Inguanzo

Journal of Social Work in the Global Community

Human populations around the world are growing older at the most astounding rate in the history of humanity. Advances in technology are enabling health care providers to deliver the latest innovations in treatment and prevention services to a broader spectrum of adult populations across the lifespan making longevity increasingly more commonplace rather than the exception to the rule in most of the industrialized world. This article provides an overview of the key social, economic, and public health costs and consequences that aging populations will exact upon international communities in the years ahead. It also examines the most significant social challenges …

Teaching Students To Be Spiritually Sensitive: Learning From A Spirituality Course Evaluation, Ann M. Callahan, Kalea Benner

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Rationale

The way educators address spirituality can create a sense of community or social isolation. This necessitates a spiritually sensitive approach that enables students to build spiritual competence. Spiritual competence reflects an understanding of how spirituality shapes human behavior, how spiritual diversity manifests and can lead to risk for discrimination, and how to communicate spiritual sensitivity in professional relationships (NASW, 2008, 2007). Research shows that educators have helped students explore themselves and others spiritually (Barker & Floersch, 2010; Johnston, Mamier, Bahjri, Anton, & Petersen; 2008), but more research is needed on how self-reflection informs spiritual competence (Hodge & Derezotes, 2008). …