Social Work Commons^™

A Qualitative Study On The Perceived Value Of Emotional Intelligence Training On Foster Parents, Omar Shere Johnson

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

The experiences of a child in the foster care system rely heavily on the preparedness ofthe foster parent. For decades, researchers and practitioners have written about the challenges that foster children face while in the foster care system and discussed ways to assist them. This research discusses another way to improve the preparedness of a foster child as they go through the foster care system—improving the parenting skills of the foster parent using emotional intelligence. The entirety of this study is the analysis and study of this specific research question, “What perceived impact can emotional intelligence training (IV) have on …

Understanding Alzheimer’S Disease Knowledge In Low-Income, Richmond, Va Community Dwelling Older Adults, Taylor Wilkerson, Ann Rhodes, Jennifer Inker, Joann Richardson, Faika Zanjani

Graduate Research Posters

Background: Different populations of individuals demonstrate varying levels of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) knowledge, as well as commonly held misconceptions about the nature of the disease and its risk factors. Older adults often demonstrate lower scores on Alzheimer’s disease knowledge scales and African American adults are often specifically not aware of their higher Alzheimer’s risk status compared to other racial groups. In addition, African American older adults are more likely to receive the fewest AD interventions. Methods: We measured the Alzheimer’s knowledge of twenty community-dwelling elders at two separate time points (baseline and 6 month follow-up) as part of a larger …

The Moderating Effect Of Comfort From Companion Animals And Social Support On The Relationship Between Microaggressions And Mental Health In Lgbtq+ Emerging Adults, Angela Matijczak, Jennifer L. Murphy, Camie A. Tomlinson, Kelly O'Connor, Shelby E. Mcdonald

Graduate Research Posters

Introduction: Sexual and/or gender minority (SGM; e.g., lesbian, transgender, nonbinary, LGBTQ+) individuals are frequently exposed to various forms of minority stress that impact their mental health and wellbeing. Microaggressions, a form of minority stress, are defined as unconscious behaviors or statements directed at members of marginalized groups that reflect a hostile or discriminatory message. Microaggressions have been associated with several detrimental outcomes, such as depression and anxiety. Social support has been found to be an important protective factor for SGM emerging adults. Additionally, relationships with companion animals are an underexplored source of support that may be important for SGM individuals. …

Staff Under New Market Rules: A Case Study Of A Group Home For People With Intellectual Disabilities In Sweden, Sven Trygged

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The Swedish caring services have transformed from a public ­operated to a market inspired contract system. This pilot case study of a group home explores what the shifts of contractor entail for staff concerning work regulation, work content and job satisfaction, personal development, relationships with colleagues, and consequences for service users. Procurement documents were studied and interviews performed with four experienced staff members. Results show that manager turnover, administrative changes, and terms of employment contracts increased conflicts and staff vulnerability. Staff responses are discussed in terms of exit, voice and loyalty.

Daily Labors: Marketing Identity And Bodies On A New York City Street Corner, By Carolyn Pinedo-Turnovsky, Kimberly Hogan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Carolyn Pinedo-Turnovsky, Daily Labors: Marketing Identity and Bodies on a New York City Street Corner. Temple University Press (2019), 212 pages, $24.42 (softcover).

Social Empathy: The Art Of Understanding Others, By Elizabeth A. Segal, Melanie Reyes

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Elizabeth A. Segal, Social Empathy: The Art of Understanding Others. Columbia University Press (2018). 239 pages, $32.50 (hardcover).

Parental Practices And Maternal Warmth As Protective Factors For Problem Behaviors In Mexican Preadolescents, Jaime Fuentes-Balderrama, Cinthia Cruz Del Castillo, Jose Ruben Parra-Cardona, Bernardo Turnbull Plaza, Angélica Ojeda García, Rolando Díaz-Loving

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Epidemiological estimates indicate that approximately 12% of children and adolescents in Mexico are in clinical ranges for psychological disorders. Low-income families in need of psychological support generally encounter understaffed and sometimes inefficient public health services and thus, families frequently constitute the primary source of support for individuals affected by mental health disorders. Empirical studies in the Mexican context have demonstrated that positive parental practices are associated with positive developmental outcomes and low levels of problem behaviors for both children and adolescents. This study aims to identify if such practices act as protective factors for problem behaviors in 306 Mexican students …

Moving Beyond Race, Gender, And Education: Exploring The Relationship Between Disability, Depressive Symptoms And Long-Term Financial Outcomes, Mellissa K. Wright, Clifford L. Broman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Data on poverty status reveals that there is a distinct sub-population of individuals who are at a significantly greater risk of being chronically poor. Although many researchers have examined the demographic characteristics of individuals who are the most likely to be persistently poor, the emphasis has been on race, sex, and education. Little attention has been paid to the role that disability might play in long-term poverty. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to utilize longitudinal Add Health data in order to explore whether or not the presence of a disability might also affect an individual’s likelihood of experiencing …

Review Of Research On Long-Term Care Insurance In Qingdao, China By Mi Hong, Ji Min, And Liu Weiguo, Lingxue Sun

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Review of Research on Long-Term Care Insurance in Qingdao, China by Mi Hong, Ji Min, and Liu Weiguo, China Labour & Social Security Publishing House (2019).

Review Of Elder Suicide: Durkheim’S Vision By Stephen M. Marson, Daniel Liechty

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Review of Elder Suicide: Durkheim’s Vision by. Stephen M. Marson, NASW Press (2019),

Young Adult Drinking And Depression: The Long-Term Consequences Of Poverty, Maternal Depression, And Childhood Behavioral Problems, Rachel Mckane, Molly K. Richard

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The objective of this research is to investigate the relationships among childhood poverty, maternal depressive symptoms, internalizing and externalizing childhood behavioral problems, and depressive symptoms and alcohol use in young adulthood. Using longitudinal data from a nationally representative sample and path analysis, a special case of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), the results indicate that both childhood poverty and maternal depressive symptoms are associated with negative behavioral outcomes in childhood and young adulthood. This study also examines mediating effects of maternal depressive symptoms, and both externalizing and internalizing childhood behavioral problems. The findings indicate that the relationship between childhood poverty and …

Review Of Motherlands: How States Push Mothers Out Of Employment By Leah Ruppanner, Hana Liechty

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Review of Motherlands: How States Push Mothers Out of Employment.

Using A Contextual Effects Measurement Approach To Understand The Influence Of Community On Individual Behavior, Bridget E. Weller, Sinaida Cherubin, Shelby D. Leverett, Alexandria Taylor

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

A social organization perspective identifies processes operating in the community that may influence an individual’s behavior. To understand such processes, researchers can apply a contextual effects measurement approach, which is used to assess the influence of group-level effects on lower level outcomes. However, few community studies employ this approach. The purpose of this article is to present and evaluate the merits of the contextual effects measurement approach.

Caring For Children In Child Welfare Systems: A Trauma-Informed Model Of Integrated Primary Care, Jill Mcleigh, Laura Lamminen, Heidi Roman

Integrated, Trauma-Informed Care

Children involved with the child welfare system have high rates of behavioral health concerns, chronic health conditions, and developmental disabilities. Further, as a result of the complicated relationships among the court system, child protective services, and caregivers (i.e., biological, kinship, and/or foster caregivers) and the high volume of health-, behavior-, and development-related services children in care need, the services they receive tend to be fragmented and problem driven. On top of these challenges, children involved with the child welfare system have been exposed to trauma, and often more than one form of trauma. Taken together, these factors point to the …

Help-Seeking Stigma And Attitudes In College Students And Parents, Samantha Sperling

Senior Honors Theses

Help-seeking stigma is a hindrance to obtaining treatment for mental illness and is related to people’s attitudes toward seeking help. Therefore, learning about the various types of stigma and gaining predictive knowledge of the constructs has value. Self-stigma and perceived stigma of others, as well as the attitudes people hold towards seeking help, were compared in college students and their parents. A sample of college students at a private Christian university and their parents were surveyed using the Self-Stigma of Seeking Help (SSOSH) scale, the Perception of Stigmatization by Others for Seeking Help (PSOSH) scale, and a short form of …

“Borikén Libre”: Spaces Of Resistance In Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, Luis R. Alvarez-Hernandez

School of Social Work Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Substance Use In Pender County, North Carolina., Khristine Winstead

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

This portfolio explores substance use in Pender County, NC. Recent data from the community health opinion survey indicates that substance use in Pender County is the number one community issue (Pender County Health Department, 2018). From 2012 through 2016, the number of Pender County resident babies hospitalized with drug withdrawal syndrome per 1,000 was 20. To contrast, as a whole, the state of North Carolina recorded 9 per 1,000 (Pender County Health Department, 2018). To date, the local management entity (LME) in Pender County responsible for managing state and federally funded services, including substance use disorders, is Trillium Health Resources. …

The Racist Impact Of Redistributive Public Policies: Handout Versus Hand-Up, Mittie Davis Jones

Cultural Encounters, Conflicts, and Resolutions

Federal government policies, while benefitting some urban areas, have historically been detrimental to African-American people. Years of welfare and housing policies have placed central city residents, especially African-Americans, at a disadvantage which they have not overcome. Policies that once denied benefits to Black people, such as public welfare and federally-insured mortgages, morphed into stigmatized policies which, when available to Blacks, became obstacles to their advancement. These same policies enabled the majority White population to do what they were initially designed to do – provide a toehold during a period of temporary economic decline after which personal advancement was possible.

The …

Transplant Center Criteria And Inequalities Within Transplant Wait Listing Process, Melanie Bergeron

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

More than 650,000 people per year in the United States are affected by End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) (US Renal Data System, 2013). This diagnosis affects many areas of the patient's life and patients have limited options for treatment. Kidney transplantation for patients with ESRD continues to be noted as the most optimal treatment (Rubin & Weir, 2015; Maggiore, et al., 2014; Patzer, Platinga, Krisher, & Pastan, 2014). However, despite this information, utilization of transplantation remains inconsistent and variable in the population. There are many areas of disparities regarding the kidney transplant waitlist including wait times, gaining access to the …

Review Of Caste: The Origins Of Our Discontents By Isabel Wilkerson, Edward U. Murphy

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

No abstract provided.

Applying Transformative Organizing Theory To White Antiracist Organizing, Josal Diebold

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

White antiracist organizing is a type of community organizing that works to build a movement that challenges the political, social, economic, and cultural manifestations of white supremacy, especially in white communities. In striving to harness strategic white antiracist organizing, an applicable theoretical lens is needed to guide both scholarship and practice. Transformative organizing theory, predicated on the need to organize and work for change on multiple levels at once, is particularly salient. This paper highlights how transformative organizing theory can anchor and cultivate white antiracist organizing through the application of key theoretical concepts, such as suffering and oppression; self-awareness and …

Journal Of Sociology And Social Welfare Vol. 47 No. 1

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

No abstract provided.

A Legal Analysis: The Transgender Bathroom Debate, Josselyn Sheer

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article examines the current legal battles over transgender bathroom, locker room, and employment rights. In the recent years, there has been a major uproar surrounding the rights of transgender individuals; concurrently, our country is witnessing a shift in the ways in which individuals understand their gender outside of the binary male and female classification. While the word transgender can serve as an “umbrella term encompassing a wide array of identifies,” transgender rights have steadily grown across numerous areas (Buck, 2016, p. 465). However, there have been contentious legal issues that have put transgender individuals rights in the spotlight.

The …

Etiology Of Poverty: A Critical Evaluation Of Two Major Theories, Stephen W. Stoeffler, Rigaud Joseph

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The purpose of this article is to appraise two competing frameworks related to poverty attribution: individualistic theories and structural theories. Using the Theory Evaluation Scale (TES)—an empirically validated nine-criterion measure—this paper scrutinizes the aforementioned theories for coherence, conceptual clarity, philosophical assumptions, connection with previous research, testability, empiricism, limitations, client context, and human agency. Results revealed that, at the scale level, both perspectives are of excellent quality. However, at the item-level, the structural perspective was found to be significantly stronger than the individual perspective. Therefore, the structural perspective is an epistemologically sounder framework for informing antipoverty interventions.

"We're Not The Enemy And We're Not Asking For The World": Low-Wage Hospital Service Workers' Advocacy For Fair Wages, Sandra Wexler, Rafael J. Engel, Tal Laufer, Elizabeth Steiner

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

A number of states and localities have increased the minimum wage beyond that set by the federal government in recognition of the material and health challenges faced by low-wage earners. Academics, economists, and activists have offered microeconomic, economic justice, and moral rationales to support increasing the minimum wage. These justifications can be understood from the vantage of claims-making, that is, the ways individuals and groups attempt to define and shape a social problem to influence policy. This paper examines the wage-related claims-making of low-wage hospital service workers. These workers (N=156) testified to a City Council-created Wage Review Committee, which posted …

System Of Structural Dependency In The Sudanese Refugee Women Of Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya, Jessica Gladden

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Many countries facing an influx of refugees have established refugee camps to provide temporary housing. Lacking a solution for the refugee crisis, these temporary facilities become long-term housing for many refugees. As a result, many refugees spend years or even decades in refugee camps. The refugees often are legally prohibited from obtaining employment. They must rely on aid from the United Nations and other organizations for their survival. This study considers some of the impacts of living in a refugee camp and surviving solely on humanitarian aid. In particular, this study examines the structural dependency observed in the Sudanese refugee …

No One Cares About Crazy People: The Chaos And Heartbreak Of Mental Health In America, By Ron Powers, Christopher Giesfield

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Ron Powers, No One Cares About Crazy People: The Chaos and Heartbreak of Mental Health in America. Hachette Book Group (2018), 384 pages, $16.99 (paperback).

Social Workers Count: Numbers And Social Issues, By Michael Anthony Lewis, Renee Andersen Garbe

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Michael Anthony Lewis, Social Workers Count: Numbers and Social Issues. Oxford University Press (2018). 207 pages, $34.95 (paperback).

Critical Multiculturalism And Intersectionality In A Complex World, By Lacey M. Sloan, Mildred C. Joyner, Catherine J. Stakeman, And Cathryne L. Schmitz, María Aguilar-Amaya

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Lacey M. Sloan, Mildred C. Joyner, Catherine J. Stakeman, and Cathryne L. Schmitz, Critical Multiculturalism and Intersectionality in a Complex World. Oxford University Press. (2018). 171 pages, $23.97 (paperback).

The Impossible Imperative: Navigating The Competing Principles Of Child Protection, By Jill Duerr Berrick, Kalah M. Villagrana

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Jill Duerr Berrick, The Impossible Imperative: Navigating the Competing Principles of Child Protection. Oxford University Press (2018), 244 pages, $36.95 (hardcover).