Social Work Commons^™

Grace Abbott Training And Supervision Academy Annual Report 2022, Michelle Nelsen, Susan Reay, Ellen Rice, Katie Robbins Case

Social Work Faculty Publications

GATSA trainings target social workers, students, and other professionals in practice areas including major mental disorder, addiction, LGBTQ bias and stigma, aging and dementia, children and families, corrections and forensics, suicide, cultural literacy, public and private mental health, supervision, research/policy/ licensure, domestic violence, rural and underserved communities, and school social work.

Challenges In Discharge Planning For Adults Transitioning From An Inpatient Psychiatric Level Of Care Experiencing Homelessness, Deanna` R. Mccaskill

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Mental illness and the homeless population are a growing concern in the United States. Homeless individuals utilize emergency rooms and acute inpatient stays more than those with housing. Social workers play a vital role in discharge planning, starting on the first day of admission. This action research study explored the challenges of social workers developing discharge plans for adults transitioning from an inpatient psychiatric level of care experiencing homeless. The theoretical framework implemented in this study was systems theory. Data were collected from 12 purposively selected master’s level social workers in the format of individual and focus group interviews. Eight …

Firefighters' Perceptions And Experiences Of Seeking Mental Health Treatment Services, Kimberly Whitman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Firefighters are repeatedly exposed to trauma on the job, which could result in the need for mental health services; however, many firefighters experience barriers that impede their access to available resources. Additional research is needed from a qualitative lens on firefighters' help-seeking behaviors to inform the development of treatment interventions. The purpose of this study was to explore firefighters’ perceptions and experiences of seeking professional mental health treatment services. A generic qualitative approach and interpretive lens were used for the investigation. Twelve active U.S. firefighters with a minimum of 2 years on the job participated in semistructured interviews. Thematic analysis …

Social Workers’ Philosophical Attitudes Towards Harm Reduction Services In Housing First Organizations, John Gay Woolley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractOver the past three decades, harm reduction has gradually become more prevalent among social workers and is now viewed as an instrumental approach in treating people with drug and alcohol problems. Although there have been several studies that described how harm reduction approaches were applied in Housing First (HF) settings, there are few studies that have described social workers’ perspectives of their philosophical attitudes regarding harm reduction in HF settings. The purpose of this study was to understand social workers’ perspectives of their philosophical attitudes toward harm reduction services and how those attitudes were apparent in their interactions with substance-using …

The Effect Of Federal And State-Level Policy On Undocumented Childhood Arrivals, Kim Kaczmarowski

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) provides a 2-year reprieve from deportation and a work permit for eligible undocumented childhood arrivals. It does not provide a pathway to citizenship or confer rights or protections enjoyed by those with permanent legal status leaving recipients in a constant state of legal limbo. State-level policy can mitigate or exacerbate obstacles faced by this population. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to explore how federal and state-level policy in a conservative location shaped experiences of membership or exclusion. Responses were examined using segmented assimilation theory to identify layered contexts of reception. The …

Clinicians' Perceptions Of Telehealth Services During The Covid-19 Pandemic In Virginia, Johnetta Hill Guishard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The onset of COVID-19 introduced unprecedented changes to how U.S. public health services were delivered. Many public and private agencies faced mandatory closures, social distancing mandates, and rapid transitions to telehealth interventions and treatment. Mental health clinicians witnessed disruptions in continuity of care and an increase in mental health risks overall. Although some studies have been conducted to survey clinicians’ perceptions of the usefulness and ease of use of technology-based interventions, knowledge about mental health clinicians’ experiences and perceptions in Virginia was sparse. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to explore how mental health clinicians in Virginia described …

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. …

Ukrainian Women Refugees In Italy And Their Risk Of Sexual Violence: An Interview With Luisanna Porcu, Lepa Mladjenović

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

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 …

An Experiential Qualitative Analysis Exploring The Sexual Identity Experiences Of Latino Caribbean Cisgender Gay Men, Starlin Astacio

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This qualitative study aims to explore the unique experiences and challenges faced by Latino Caribbean cisgender gay men within their cultural and social contexts. Using focus group and thematic analysis, the researcher examines the narratives and perspectives of a diverse sample of Latino Caribbean cisgender gay men (n = 6) to gain insights into their sexual identity process, cultural influences, family dynamics, and support systems utilizing Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) as the methodological framework. The researcher’s findings highlight the themes of Awareness of Sexual Identity, Visibility Management, Spanish Caribbean Families' Influences, Being True to Oneself, and Positive Experiences & Role …

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 …

How A Professional Describes Reasons For Working In And Ultimately Leaving The Foster Care Field In The State Of Missouri: A Case Study, Lauren Williams

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The foster care field continues to have a high turnover rate of the professionals working in the field. While support and work balance are available for some professionals, many face the challenges of heavy workloads, unrealistic expectations, and health sacrifices that lead to many professionals leaving the field. This case study of one former foster care professional’s description of reasons they worked in the field, and reasons they ultimately left the field provides insight of the challenges and support as a foster care professional. The findings of this study are organized into three major themes including “Challenges for Foster Care …

A Different Perspective: An Exploration Towards The Emancipation Of Practice Within Social Care, Jonathan Condon

Theses

In Ireland today, it is recognized that the Reflexive Practitioner is the dominant paradigm within the district of Social Care and the approach of professionals is obtained through the traditional ways; whilst Social Pedagogy is still a relatively new import with only a couple of organizations operating across the country. Both disciplines work with the same general clientele and have similar goals for the clients with whom they work (Lalor and Share, 2013). The professional approach of both disciplines was unfastened and discovered throughout this study. Social care professionals focus on the protection of those in their care. Along with …

Examining Contributing Factors To Poor Mental Health Among College Students: A Guide To Student Mental Health Resources, Kora Dutton

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Among college students, poor mental health is an issue that continues to progress. In this literature review, contributing factors to mental health conditions of college students are examined. These factors include financial burden and living standards, violence, substance use, pandemics, and health crises. After the initial onset of a mental illness, the risk for other negative consequences increases. Students with mental illness are less likely to graduate, more likely to develop substance use disorder, and are at an increased risk for other mental health comorbidities and suicide. As poor mental health among college students persists, more accessibility to resources is …

An Introduction To The Special Issue, Megan S. Paceley, Candace Christensen

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

No abstract provided.

Coh 1700: Health Care Coordination Syllabus, Sasha Harry

Open Educational Resources

This is the syllabus for a Health Care Coordination course.

The goal of health care coordination is to improve patient outcomes with better health care services. Care coordinators play a critical role in improving patient care. Students will learn how to effectively advocate for patients and interact with members of the healthcare team in finding solutions to provide high quality, value-based, and efficient care. Effective communication styles, assessing patient’s needs and goals, and helping with patients’ transitions of care are among many topics covered in this course. Upon course completion, students will have acquired basic knowledge and skills to educate, …

The Intersection Between Harm Reduction And Social Work, Sydney Biondi

Undergraduate Research Posters

This qualitative study explores the intersection of harm reduction and social work. Social workers who practice harm reduction were recruited to participate in interviews. In the field of social work, harm reduction is seen as a promising practice, but we do not know very much about what it looks like in practice. The purpose of this research study is to find out how the perceptions of social workers of harm reduction aid or inhibit community harm reduction efforts. We think that the geographical location of a social worker impacts the perceptions and experiences of harm reduction, because of the resources …

Annual Credit Checks For Adolescent Youth In Foster Care: Factors Associated With Identity Fraud Victimization, John Gyourko, Johanna K. P. Greeson

Department of Social Work - Faculty Scholarship

Child identity fraud, or the criminal exploitation of a child’s personal data, poses serious risks and challenges for youth in foster care. Despite the 10-year history of a federal mandate requiring state child welfare agencies to conduct annual credit checks for adolescent foster youth (42 U.S.C. § 675), identity fraud has received scant attention in child welfare research. Analyzing a state-level administrative dataset with linked child welfare and consumer credit records, we employed logistic regression to assess demographic and foster care placement factors associated with identity fraud victimization among a statewide population cohort of 1,176 youth (age 14 to …

Racial/Ethnic Differences In Child Protective Services Reporting, Substantiation, And Placement, With Comparison To Non-Cps Risks And Outcomes: 2005—2019, Brett Drake, Dylan Jones, Hyunil Kim, John Gyourko, Antonio R. Garcia, Richard P. Barth, Sarah Font, Emily Putnam-Hornstein, Jill Duerr Berrick, Johanna K. P. Greeson, Victoria Cook, Patricia Kohl, Melissa Jonson-Reid

Department of Social Work - Faculty Scholarship

We used National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System and Census data to examine Black–White and Hispanic–White disparities in reporting, substantiation, and out-of-home placement both descriptively from 2005–2019 and in multivariate models from 2007–2017. We also tracked contemporaneous social risk (e.g., child poverty) and child harm (e.g., infant mortality) disparities using non-child protective services (CPS) sources and compared them to CPS reporting rate disparities. Black–White CPS reporting disparities were lower than found in non-CPS risk and harm benchmarks. Consistent with the Hispanic paradox, Hispanic–White CPS reporting disparities were lower than risk disparities but similar to harm disparities. Descriptive and multivariate …

Double Burden Of Malnutrition Workshop Facilitation Manual: Lima, Peru, Carmen Quinteros-Reyes, Pavarskevi Seferidi, Laura Guzman-Abello, Christopher Millett, Antonio Bernabé-Ortiz, Lindsey Pawlowski, Ellis Ballard

Social System Design Lab

This is a facilitation manual for workshops in Lima, Peru as part of the project “Addressing the double burden of malnutrition in Peru: using a community-based system dynamics approach to improve food systems”. The project is a collaboration between investigators at the Center of Excellence in Chronic Diseases (CRONICAS) at the University of Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Universidad de los Andes in Bogota, Peru, the Social System Design Lab at Washington University in St. Louis, USA and Imperial College London funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council (Grant Ref: BB/T009004/1). It is a supplemental document associated with the paper …

Double Burden Of Malnutrition Workshop Facilitation Manual: Iquitos, Peru, Carmen Quinteros-Reyes, Paraskevi Seferidi, Laura Guzman-Abello, Christopher Millett, Antonio Bernabé-Ortiz, Lindsey Pawloski, Ellis Ballard

Social System Design Lab

This is a facilitation manual for workshops in Lima, Peru as part of the project “Addressing the double burden of malnutrition in Peru: using a community-based system dynamics approach to improve food systems”. The project is a collaboration between investigators at the Center of Excellence in Chronic Diseases (CRONICAS) at the University of Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Universidad de los Andes in Bogota, Peru, the Social System Design Lab at Washington University in St. Louis, USA and Imperial College London funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council (Grant Ref: BB/T009004/1). It is a supplemental document associated with the paper …

Family Drug Treatment Court Program Effectiveness As A Protective Factor For Parents In Prevention Of Substance Abuse Foster Care Re-Entries: A Mixed Methods Study, Eugenia Ann Richardson

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Foster care re-entry rates are high. Studies show that many foster care entries are due to substance abuse. These parents may enter a Family Drug Treatment Court Program that offers intensive therapy for the parent as well as services for the family. This study looks at the effectiveness of a Missouri County Family Drug Treatment Court Program at preventing foster care re-entry for those who graduate the program. This study uses a mixed methods research design. Caseworkers for the Missouri County Family Drug Treatment Court were interviewed. Quantitative secondary data was also obtained from the Missouri County Juvenile Office. Results …

Mapping Communities Of Mothering: Where Race, Class, Gender, And Space Intersect, Cynthia Edmonds-Cady

Faculty Publications - Social Work

This manuscript explores the unique construction of community that young, low-income, women create, based on the embodied internal and external spaces they occupy as lone mothers. Issues related to diverse women’s representation, voice, and power, within these socially constructed communities are examined. Attention is paid to how young low-income mothers experience and actively create their own supportive community within both geographic and social boundaries, in active resistance to dominant and oppressive assumptions. To explore these concepts in-depth, results are presented from an ethnographic study that examined the community participation of eleven young, low-income, racially diverse single mothers living in a …

Black Women’S Social Media Use Integration And Social Media Addiction, Sara Matsuzaka, Lanice R. Avery, Alexis G. Stanton

Department of Social Work and Child Advocacy Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Black American women are among the largest consumer groups of social media in the United States. In recent years, Black American women have curated spaces on social media platforms to authentically converse about Black womanhood and resist structural gendered racism. Still, there is a dearth of research on the subjective importance of Black American women’s social media use and risks for social media addiction. This study tested the association between social media use integration and social media addiction, and whether connectedness to Black women moderated this relationship. Data from 354 Black American women (Mage = 24.34 years) were collected using …

Intimate Partner Violence: The Silent Enemy Among African Immigrant Women, Omoniyi Anne Bello

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Intimate partner violence among immigrant and minority groups remains a social and health problem that has garnered little attention. African immigrant women particularly face intersectional challenges (e.g., language barriers, unemployment, and lack of access to health care, resources, and services) that heighten their vulnerability to partner violence. Yet, knowledge about their experiences remains elusive in empirical research. Examining the nature and extent of their experience can provide valuable insights that could enhance research and practice on partner violence. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to explore the experiences of African immigrant women survivors of partner violence in Edmonton, …

Help-Seeking Behaviors And Employment Hope Among Depressed Black Male Foster Care Alumni, Vanessa Jennings

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Traumatic depression is a system of experiences where the mind, heart, and gut track happenings lingering among systemic models of prevention and intervention and personal stories. This nonexperimental correlational study aimed to provide insights into mental help-seeking and employment hope among depressed Black/African American foster care male alums. The central research question was to what degree, if any, a positive relationship exists between employment hope and seeking access to mental health-related services among male foster care alums who identify with depression. It was hypothesized that a statistically significant relationship exists. The social cognitive career theory and theory of planned behavior …

A Qualitative Study On The Financial Education Of Young Black Men, Sue M. May

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Financial literacy awareness is low among young adults, and financial literacy among Black college students is significantly lower than in other groups (Singh, 2018). However, there is little to no research on why financial literacy is so low among young Black men between 18 and 25. Few studies specifically show how financial literacy and decision-making may be related to their family economics and socialization for young Black men. Using Critical Race Theory and Family Financial Socialization theoretical frameworks, this dissertation project examined a sample of seven young self-identified Black men ages 24 to 25 years old in Northern California Bay …