Social Work Commons^™

Combatting Rising Healthcare Costs For Healthier Adults, Alejandra Muñoz-Rivera

Social Policy Institute Research

In 2020, healthcare expenditures averaged $12,530 per person, up 9.7% from 2019. In 2018, 19% of U.S. households had medical debt with $2,000 being the median amount owed. Over half of adults between 18 to 64 years of age are estimated to experience some form of medical financial hardship including medical bills or debt, stress about medical bills, and delaying or forgoing treatment specifically due to cost. In a 2022 survey of 140 Medicaid and Marketplace members by researchers from the Social Policy Institute (SPI) and the Centene Center of Health Transformation, one-third of respondents reported having unpaid medical bills. …

The Cost Of Child Support: Policy Design And Father Identity, Lara Markovitz

Brown School Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Child support policy is one of the key forces in the lives of families in the U.S., where 1 in 4 children and half of African American children live apart from their fathers (Carlson et al., 2017; Grall, 2020; U.S. Census Bureau, 2014). Most unmarried fathers of newborns express a strong desire and commitment to their children (Carlson & McLanahan, 2002; England & Edin, 2007). However, by the time their children turn five, fathers'; involvement (caregiving and time, provision of child support) diminishes greatly (Turner & Waller, 2017). This decrease in father involvement among low-income NRFs is thought to be …

Trauma Exposures Across The Life Course For Individuals Who Experience Incarceration, Maria Morrison

Brown School Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

The U.S. incarcerates more people than any other country in the world, with 2.2 million people currently behind bars, 60% of whom are people of color. At the same time, there is an unprecedented political consensus to develop strategies for reducing the incarcerated population and safely returning the majority of incarcerated individuals to society. While there has been a substantial research focus on the potential of this population to commit acts of violence post-release, this tells only half the story. This dissertation hopes to provide a more complete picture of the role of violence in the lives of individuals released …

Social Capital And Mental Health Among Chinese Older Adults, Yuekang Li

Brown School Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

This study aims to develop our understanding of social capital by exploring the dimensions and profiles of social capital among Chinese older adults and the factors and health conditions associated with social capital in later life. The approach was secondary analyses of the China Family Panel Study (CFPS), a nationally representative survey of the Chinese population. It is the intent of this work to offer applicable guidance on policy and project design regarding health promotion for the aging population through social intervention. Aim 1 explores the dimensions and associative factors of social capital of Chinese older adults. It was found …

“I Hear You”: Exploring The Lived Experience Of Counselors’ Empathic Response To Clients When Conducting Telephonic Counseling During Covid-19, Michael Sickels

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Dissertation supervised by Dr. Debra Hyatt-Burkhart

This study sought to unearth the lived experience of counselors empathically responding to clients via telephonic counseling during COVID-19. The term empathic response refers to as attending to the emotional and mental state of another person in a way that is attuned with the feelings and meanings of the individual’s experience. There are few studies that have assessed the merits of telephonic counseling, and even fewer that have examined counselors’ empathic response to clients through this medium.

To uncover the lived experience of the target population, the participants of the study were purposefully selected …

Longitudinal Associations Between Housing Instability, Primary Caregiver's Mental Health, Parenting Skills, And Child Behavior Problems: A Latent Growth Modeling Approach, Xi Du

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Children who grow up in disruptive environments have heightened vulnerability to psychological and behavioral difficulties, which may influence overall well-being through the course of their lives. This study combined a life course perspective with Conger’s family stress model to investigate the longitudinal associations between housing instability, primary caregiver’s mental health, parenting skills, and child internalizing/externalizing behavior problems by unpacking dynamic change from a focal child’s early childhood to adolescence in each factor.

Data came from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and its Child Development Supplement survey. The analytic sample comprises 783 children who aged 3-7 at enrollment with consistent …

The Long Migration Route: Exploring Social Implications For Asylees In The Us And Policy Creation In Transit Countries As A Result Of Immigration Patterns Of African And Haitian Asylum-Seekers Traveling Through Latin America To The United States, Brendan Rupprecht

Capstone Collection

The number of asylum-seekers from African nations and Haiti traveling from their origin countries, through Latin America, and then to the United States is increasing. This capstone explores why Africans and Haitians are choosing to embark on this journey, what the experience is like for the asylum-seekers (including mapping the physical route taken), and what policies have been developed in transit countries, specifically Panama and Mexico, as a response to this phenomenon. To fulfill the objectives of the study, data was collected by conducting semi- structured interviews with 4 individuals who currently work in the field of international migration and …

Health Literacy And People Diagnosed With Mental Illness, Beckie Child

Dissertations and Theses

Health literacy is a well-studied concept that has a large literature base. Yet, little is known about health literacy and people diagnosed with mental illnesses, and even less health literacy research speaks to people diagnosed with mental illness. I used a framework and approach of lived experience of psychiatric diagnosis and psychiatric survivor research to conceptualize and inform the study. It explores health literacy with people diagnosed with mental and physical health diagnoses using a small quantitative survey, focus groups, and an individual interview. The findings suggest that health literacy is a dynamic and complex construct that interacts with the …

Resilience, Outcomes, And Burnout In Social Service Workers, Savannah Muse

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Science at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science by Savannah Muse on August 9, 2022.

A Typology Of Foster Home Quality Elements In Relation To Foster Youth Mental Health, Paul Sorenson

Dissertations and Theses

Foster care has been one of the primary interventions in society's efforts to address child maltreatment. The foster parents and foster homes follow a process of certification intended to ensure that maltreated children be placed in substitute care that supports and encourages positive outcomes. One of the outcomes of principle concern is mental health. Few studies have been conducted that explore the makeup of certified foster homes with respect to the cumulative impact of multiple indicators of quality on mental health outcomes of foster youth.

This study sought to identify a typology of foster homes based on theorized indicators of …

Pathways From Exposure To Community Violence To Bullying Victimization Among African American Adolescents In Chicago’S Southside, Dexter R. Voisin

Faculty Scholarship

The present study proposes and examines the pathways from exposure to community violence to bullying victimization through the influences of depression, exposure to peer delinquency, and drug use among 638 African American adolescents (aged 12–22) from low-resourced neighborhoods in Chicago’s Southside. The study found that African American adolescents who were exposed to community violence were likely at risk of bullying victimization, depression, exposure to peer delinquency, and drug use. Depression can heighten the risk of bullying victimization. These findings have implications for future research.

Defining Regenerative Business Through The Context Of Place: A Case Study West Michigan Businesses, Aislinn Teachout, Aislinn Teachout

Masters Theses

This study builds upon existing scholarly literature on regenerative design and regenerative sustainability by relating the framework to existing West Michigan businesses and their place-specific practices. Applying concepts from those more developed fields to business sustainability, this paper contributes to the still emerging field of regenerative business by proposing a comprehensive definition of regenerative business. The definition is then applied to three businesses in a case study format to highlight regenerative business practices. While none of the businesses highlighted claim to be regenerative, all have examples of practices that demonstrate regenerative action and enhance the West Michigan community.

By defining …

Community Based Rehabilitation Programs For Resettled Muslim Women Refugees, Lori Maria Walton Phd, Dpt, Mscpt, Mph(S), Renee Hakim, Phd, Pt, Ncs, Veena Raigangar, Phd(C), Mscpt, M.Ed., Jennifer Schwartz, Dpt, Ncs, Sjm Ummul Ambia, Mscpt, Najah Zaaeed, Drph, Lmsw, Bassima Schbley

Journal of Health Ethics

According to the 2021 report from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 82.4 million people were forcibly displaced because of violence, wars, or persecution and over 26.4 million are currently living with refugee status. Displacement and resettlement trauma are associated with chronic disease onset and poor cognitive, physical, and mental health outcomes for refugee populations. To mitigate some of the deleterious effects of resettlement trauma, we propose a community-based rehabilitation program (CBRP) framework that is culturally sensitive, trauma-informed and focused on the vulnerabilities of women. The purpose of this novel CBRP framework is to address health inequities among a …

Disability Inclusion, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

Workforce Analytics Resources

The following resources provide information to help agencies create disability-inclusive workplace policies and practices. The Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) is a non-regulatory federal agency that promotes policies and coordinates with employers and all levels of government to increase workplace success for people with disabilities. The Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion (EARN) is an ODEP technical assistance center that provides resources to help employers recruit, hire, retain, and advance individuals with disabilities and comply with their responsibilities under the ADA. Inclusion@Work: A Framework for Building a Disability-Inclusive Organization allows organizations to explore strategies for creating disability-inclusive …

What Is The State Of The Literature About Robotic Animal Use Among Older Adults Receiving Hospice Or Palliative Care?, Allyson Miles

Social Work Theses - Archive

Objective: This review aims to assess the extent of the literature on robotic pet use among older adults receivinghospice or palliative care. Introduction: In 2015, in the U.S, an estimated 1,426,00 individuals received hospice; among this population, 94.6% were aged 65 or older (National Center for Health Statistics,2019). According to the literature, a social robot is defined as something that interacts with individuals socio-emotionally during the intervention (Hudson et al., 2020). Social robots, including robotic pets, are promising technological interventions that can benefit the psychosocial health of older adults and people with dementia. Although there are previous reviews on robotic …

The Effects Of Digital Civic Engagement Training On The Political Knowledge And Internal Political Efficacy Of Social Work Students, Christian Andrew Mason

Social Work Theses - Archive

It is an ethical obligation for social workers to be civically engaged because the issues central to the profession, like poverty, are public issues. One widely used method to examine civic engagement is the civic voluntarism model developed by Verba et al. (1995). Furthermore, an emerging arena for civic involvement is the digital environment and its potential use as a training ground. This study was a pilot study to determine if a brief training in digital civic engagement for social work students could lead to an increase in the internal political efficacy and political knowledge of social work students. While …

What Is The Current State Of Literature Regarding The Effectiveness Of Buprenorphine For Opioid Use Disorder Among African American Men?, Tamiko L. Stanley

Social Work Theses - Archive

Purpose: This scoping review aims to explore the comparative effectiveness of buprenorphine for opioid use disorder (OUD) among African American men. Methods: The Arksey & O’Malley scoping review method was used to identify relevant articles and extract data related to the research question. Results: The author identified 16 studies that have met all inclusion criteria. Results indicate that buprenorphine treatment is associated with positive substance use and health outcomes for African American men. Discussion: Issues remain with access to MOUD treatment for African American men, despite the positive impact buprenorphine can have on health outcomes. As social workers, advocating for …

Empathy: The Unspoken Language Of Humanity: A Systematic Review Protocol, Yasmin Khaled Al-Zubi

Social Work Theses - Archive

Prolonged exposure to violence may result in habituation or desensitization, which has negative impacts. Desensitization to real-life violence is a reduced initial arousal response to real-life violence. Real-life violence includes physical abuse, sexual abuse, domestic violence, intimate partner violence, peer violence, and community violence. Children who have been exposed to violence-related adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are more likely to achieve violence desensitization, by definition. As a result of ACEs, children are at risk of mental health complications, health-related problems, and risk for maladaptive behavior. Children who have reached violence desensitization are more likely to exhibit externalized symptoms such as aggression …

How Word Choice Influences Collegiate Recovery: A Quantitative Analysis On The Impact Of Identifying Terms On Self-Compassion, Stigma, And Recovery Capital, Morgan Humberger

Social Work Theses - Archive

Purpose: This study seeks to better understand how word choice when referencing people with a substance use disorder is associated with self-compassion and overall recovery capital while in a collegiate recovery program. The main domains to be explored are: 1. how students personally identify, 2. how they prefer to be identified by individuals not in recovery, and 3. how they prefer to be identified by other people in recovery and how their preferences are related to self-reported levels of self-compassion and recovery capital. The information gained from this study can inform collegiate recovery staff, university administration, and peers on how …

Positive Ageing And Death Or Dying: A Scoping Review, Robin Otto

Social Work Theses - Archive

This scoping review aims to examine the extent and how research that utilizes successful, active, productive, and healthy ageing framework(s) include death or dying. An examination of peer-reviewed academic articles published between 1980 and 2021 were reviewed following Joanna Briggs Institute's methodological standards for scoping reviews and conforming to Arskey and O'Malley's five-stage framework. The initial search resulted in 1,759 articles for review, and following the rigorous screening, 35 studies were included for the final review. A thematic analysis was the qualitative method employed to identify how research utilizes the concepts of death and dying in the context of four …

Piloting An Index Of Segregation At The Census Tract Level: Associations With Place And Racial/Ethnic Disparities In Life Expectancies, Katherine F. Kitchens

Social Work Theses - Archive

This study considers residential segregation as a critical driver of racial/ethnic health disparities and introduces an index of segregation, the Representation Index, that measures segregation degree at the neighborhood level with a metric capturing the overrepresentation of a racialized/ethnic group in a census tract in relation to that group’s representation at the city level. Using Dallas, Texas as a pilot city, the index is used to investigate the association between Latinx, non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic Black, and Asian-American groups’ over-representation at the neighborhood level with neighborhood rates of life expectancy at birth. This study aimed to expose the possibility of neighborhood …

How Do Social Work Students Demographic Identities Impact Ally Behavior?, Jayme Dooley

Social Work Theses - Archive

The purpose of this study is to explore the potential correlation between a national sample of social work students’ demographics and their Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual (LGB) and Transgender (T) ally behavior. The sample consisted of 784 final respondents after missingness was accounted for. The main demographic categories analyzed were age, gender, sexual orientation, race, and religion. The data used for this analysis is secondary from a national survey produced by the thesis chair. The findings from this research suggest a link between non-heterosexual orientations and non-cisgender male identifying individuals showed increased ally behavior. Whereas, identifying as Evangelical Christian showed a …

Female Labor Force Participation And Intimate Partner Violence Among Married Women In Nepal, Nibedita Shrestha

Social Work Dissertations - Archive

Nepal has the highest rate of female labor force participation (FLFP) in South Asia (Ghosh, Singh, & Chigateri, 2017), alongside high levels of violence against women (Yoshikawa et al., 2014). The explanation for the co-occurrence of high levels of female labor force participation alongside significant amounts of intimate partner violence (IPV) has not been adequately explored. Studies on how the working status of a woman in Nepal makes her vulnerable to violence are few and far between (John, 2020). Theoretical models to account for this phenomenon are crucial to formulating interventions that are protective of working women. The current study …

Describing Participation In Veteran Peer Support : A Secondary Analysis Of Women Veterans' Experiences, Amanda L. Matteson

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This research explores peer support described by women who have served in the United States Armed Forces. Women military veterans are a growing subpopulation with unique experiences and challenges as women who have served in a male-dominated warrior culture. Understanding women veterans’ experiences and how they view peer support will help improve their mental health and well-being. Research questions included: (1) How do women veterans describe peer support for their mental health and well-being? (2) What does peer support mean to the woman veterans in this study? (3) For what life situations is peer support helpful for women veterans? (4) …

When Families, Organizational Culture, And Policy Collide: A Mixed Method Study Of Alternative Response, Stacey L. Shipe, Mathew C. Uretsky, Catherine A. Labrenz, Corey S. Shdaimah, Christian M. Connell

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objective Alternative response (AR) is a family-centered, preventative approach for child protection systems. This study first examined what family and case factors predicted re-investigation and then explored which organizational factors influence caseworker and agency implementation of AR. Method Using administrative data from child protection reports, AR families (N = 9,959) and traditional response (TR) families (N = 13,974) were followed for 18 months to determine re-investigation rates using multilevel modeling where families were nested in county of residence. Four focus groups with 14 participants were conducted to discuss the quantitative findings, organizational culture, and implementation of AR. Results AR families …

The Perceived Quality Of Social Work Education And Internship In Preparation For Career, Precilla Martinez, Jennifer Ruvalcaba

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study aims to analyze whether California State University of San Bernardino students in the two social work programs, the Title IV-E program and the generalist social work program, perceive a difference in social work career preparation in education and internship. The literature on social work education and training suggests that preparation for career is an important component for students of any specialization.

This quantitative study used a self-administered, anonymous survey created by the researchers to assess social work students’ perceptions of their career preparation. Participants were recruited from the California State University, San Bernardino School of Social Work from …

Pediatric Oncology Social Work Job Analysis., Alyssa Ashlyn Middleton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is an examination of the tasks most important to the pediatric oncology social work role. It begins with an argument that pediatric oncology social work is a blend of four social work specialties: generalist medical social work, oncology social work, pediatric social work, and hospice and palliative care social work. Studies report pediatric oncology social workers feel unprepared for numerous tasks related to their role. Despite calls for increased education and training opportunities, few are available. Until now, there has been no study evaluating the tasks that pediatric oncology social workers deem most important to their role, nor …

Treating Active-Duty Military Members: Best Practices For Common Mental Health Diagnoses Across The Dod, Leah Lawson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Due to varying service experiences, active-duty service members endure military related stressors in addition to everyday life stressors. As a result, their risk of mental illness onset increases. Considering that many of the stressors and events are unique to military personnel, it is important to identify best-practice interventions for working with this population opposed to employing civilian best practices. The purpose of this study was to determine what treatment interventions are best-practice when working with active-duty military members diagnosed with the three most common mental disorders (e.g., adjustment disorder, depressive disorders, anxiety disorders) across the Department of Defense (DoD). This …

Exploring The Effects Of Substance Use Disorder Alcohol Use Disorder Treatment Service Barriers, Erica Vanderhyde

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This project will focus on Substance Use Disorder/Alcohol Use Disorder (SUD/AUD) treatment service barriers in the rural desert communities of Yucca Valley, Joshua Tree, and Twentynine Palms, CA.

This project follows the concepts of the positivist paradigm. Because of this, the author primarily collected quantitative information. The author gathered data through snowball and convenience sampling utilizing local personal social connections and posting her questionnaire on Facebook. Study participants entered their answers into a self-administered questionnaire on Qualtrics. After completing data collection utilizing Qualtrics, the author examined the frequency analysis of the demographic statistics and key variables by exporting the data …

Proficiency Of Social Workers In Teaching Mindfulness-Based Practices And Techniques, Vanessa Morales

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study explored the self-rated proficiency of social workers in teaching mindfulness-based practices as part of treatment. It paid special attention to what they feel is the benefit to incorporating mindfulness-based practices (MBPs) into treatment and as their own personal practice. Participant responses of what has helped to develop their perceived expertise are highlighted. The literature on mindfulness reveals that mindfulness-based interventions have been effective at decreasing psychological distress caused by mental illness. MBPs help individuals dealing with anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder to gain a sense of control when it comes to their mental health.

The study employed …