Social Work Commons^™

Experiences And Responses To Microaggressions On Historically White Campuses: A Qualitative Interpretive Meta-Synthesis, Y. Kafi Moragne-Patterson, Tracey M. Barnett

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

According to the U.S. Department of Education (2011), only 59% of students who sought bachelors’ degrees from four-year postsecondary institutions in 2006 completed the degree within six years, and among African American/Black students, only 40% finished college within six years. Despite efforts to quantify factors that contribute to low retention rates among African American students, less is known about the qualitative experiences of students who remain on campuses across the United States. This qualitative interpretive meta-synthesis examines the microaggressive encounters experienced by African American undergraduate college students (ages 17-22) at historically White, fouryear colleges and universities to better understand how …

Civic Engagement And Institutional Trust Among South Africans, Yoosun Chu, Ce Shen

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The importance of institutional trust and its key determinants have been widely acknowledged in developed countries. However, in developing countries, where institutional trust has not been well established, its structural causes have not received adequate research emphasis. The aims of our study are: (1) to examine the direct effect of civic engagement on institutional trust; and (2) to examine the mediating effects of government dysfunction and government performance on the relationship between civic engagement and institutional trust. We conducted a structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis using data from the 2004 Afrobarometer Round 2.5 survey in South Africa (N = 2,400). …

Journal Of Sociology And Social Welfare Vol. 44 No. 3

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Experiences and Responses to Microaggressions on Historically White Campuses: A Qualitative Interpretive Meta-Synthesis- Y. Kafi Moragne-Patterson and Tracey M. Barnett

Civic Engagement and Institutional Trust among South Africans- Yoosun Chu and Ce Shen

How the Immigration and Deportation Systems Work: A Social Worker’s Guide- Carol Cleaveland

Immigrant Health Disparities: Does Neighborliness Improve Health?- Kofi Danso

Are Older Adults Who Participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Healthier Than Eligible Nonparticipants? Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study -Jin Kim

When ‘Places’ Include Pets: Broadening the Scope of Relational Approaches to Promoting Aging-In-Place -Ann M. Toohey, Jennifer A. Hewson, Cindy L. …

When ‘Places’ Include Pets: Broadening The Scope Of Relational Approaches To Promoting Aging-In-Place, Ann M. Toohey, Jennifer A. Hewson, Cindy L. Adams, Melanie J. Rock

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Aging-in-place is a well-established concept, but discussions rarely consider that many older adults live with pets. In a ‘pet-friendly’ city, we conducted semi-structured interviews to explore perspectives of community-based social support agencies that promote aging-in-place, and those of animal welfare agencies. Applying a relational ecology theoretical framework, we found that pets may contribute to feeling socially- situated, yet may also exacerbate constraints on autonomy experienced by some older adults. Pet-related considerations at times led to discretionary acts of more-than-human solidarity, but also created paradoxical situations for service-providers, impacting their efforts to assist older adults. A shortage of pet-friendly affordable housing …

Explaining Support For Structural Attribution Of Poverty In Post-Communist Countries: Multilevel Analysis Of Repeated Cross-Sectional Data, Nazim Habibov, Alex Cheung, Alena Auchynnikava, Lida Fan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

We examine support for the structural attribution of poverty in 24 post-communist countries (N = 37,307) for the period from 2006 to 2010 by considering: (1) individual-level characteristics, (2) country- level characteristics, and (3) interactions between individual- and country-level characteristics. At the individual-level, adherence to the norms of equity, the market economy, and work ethics all significantly weaken structural attribution of poverty. In contrast, support for the norms of equality, and personal experience with poverty significantly strengthen structural attribution of poverty. At the country-level, GDP growth significantly reduces structural attribution of poverty, while the GDP per capita and poverty rates …

Review Of The Welfare State: A Very Short Introduction. David Garland. Reviewed By Huibing Ke., Huibing Ke

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Review of:

David Garland, The Welfare State: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press (2016), 144 pages, $11.95 (paperback).

Review Of The Politics Of Resentment: Rural Consciousness In Wisconsin And The Rise Of Scott Walker. Katherine J. Cramer. Reviewed By Edward U. Murphy., Edward U. Murphy

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Review of:

Katherine J. Cramer, The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker. University of Chicago Press (2016), 256 pages, $30.00 (paperback).

Review Of The Slow Professor: Challenging The Culture Of Speed In The Academy.Maggie Berg And Barbara K. Seeber. Reviewed By Daniel Liechty., Daniel Liechty

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Maggie Berg and Barbara K. Seeber, The Slow Professor: Challenging the Culture of Speed in the Academy. University of Toronto Press (2017), 115 pages, $19.95 (paperback).

“Children Can’T Learn On An Empty Stomach”: The Black Panther Party’S Free Breakfast Program, Husain Lateef, David Androff

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The year 2016 marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Black Panther Party and their revolutionary approach to urban Black suffering in America. However, like many other social welfare contributions of the Black American community, the Black Panther Party’s social programs remain largely unexamined within the social work literature. To reclaim the social welfare contribution of the Black Panther Party, this paper examines the Free Breakfast for Schoolchildren Program and discusses its relevance to contemporary social work. Key aspects of the Free Breakfast Program are reviewed, including the historical context of the formation of the Black Panther Party …

Do We Know What We Think We Know About Payday Loan Borrowers? Evidence From The Survey Of Consumer Finances, Mary Caplan, Peter A. Kindle, Robert B. Nielsen

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The field of social work is becoming increasingly savvy regarding the financial lives of people, but despite seeming conclusive and resolved, knowledge about payday loan borrowing is still nascent. To understand it more thoroughly, this study employed descriptive and inferential multivariate quantitative methods using cross-sectional secondary data from the 2013 Survey of Consumer Finances (n = 6015). Results revealed that many of the simple differences found in descriptive analyses of demographic characteristics no longer predict differential payday loan borrowing when controlling for other characteristics. Contrary to prior research, results showed that payday loan borrowers are not more likely to be …

Habitus, Symbolic Violence, And Reflexivity: Applying Bourdieu’S Theories To Social Work, Wendy L. Wiegmann

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

During the mid- to late-twentieth century, Pierre Bourdieu crated a conceptual framework that describes how underclass status becomes embodied in individuals, and the ways that personal, professional, and political fields perpetuate this oppression. Bourdieu’s theories also outline the role of the “critical intellectual” in undermining oppression and fighting for social justice. Using key terms from Bourdieu’s explanatory framework, this article examines the power relations and symbolic violence built into the interactions between social workers and clients, and offers suggestions as to how reflexive and relational social work can help workers reduce this impact. This paper also explores the role of …

Who Defines Need?: Low-Income Individuals’ Interpretations Of Need And The Implications For Participation In Public Assistance Programs, Kerri Leyda Nicoll

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Existing research into participation and nonparticipation in U.S. public assistance programs is nearly all rooted in the assumption that people who meet a program’s eligibility criteria are in need of that program’s assistance. Based on in-depth interviews with members of 75 low-income households, this study argues that the failure to give low-income individuals a voice in defining their own need prevents researchers from understanding how and why these individuals choose to participate, or not participate, in public programs. The disconnect between individual interpretations of need and program eligibility standards pushes us to rethink the design of participation research and program …

A Right To Motherhood? Race, Class, And Reproductive Services In The Jim Crow South, Cynthia Edmonds-Cady

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This research examines birth control and sterilization practices aimed at low-income black women in the United States from 1939-1950, within the framework of specific race- and class-based constructions of motherhood in the Jim Crow South. How these social services aimed at reproductive health were grounded within differential ideals about family, childbirth, and motherhood for White versus African American women is explored. Evidence is presented from archival collections containing records for Planned Parenthood’s Negro Project, The Association for Voluntary Sterilization’s programs, and The American Social Health Association’s public health programs. Birth control services in the South were delivered within a framework …

Review Of Dream Hoarders: How The American Upper Middle Class Is Leaving Everyone Else In The Dust, Why That Is A Problem, And What To Do About It. Richard V. Reeves. Reviewed By Tara Bruno., Tara Bruno

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Review of:

Richard V. Reeves, Dream Hoarders: How the American Upper Middle Class Is Leaving Everyone Else in the Dust, Why That Is a Problem, and What to Do about It. Brookings Institution Press (2017). 186 pages, $24.00 (hardcover).

Review Of Fragile Families: Foster Care, Immigration, And Citizenship. Naomi Glenn-Levin Rodriguez. Reviewed By Molly Cook., Molly Cook

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Review of:

Naomi Glenn-Levin Rodriguez, Fragile Families: Foster Care, Immigration, and Citizenship. University of Pennsylvania Press (2017). 232 pages, $49.50 (hardcover).

Review Of Social Welfare For A Global Era: International Perspectives On Policy And Practice. James Midgley. Reviewed By Fei Sun., Fei Sun

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Review of:

James Midgley, Social Welfare for a Global Era: International Perspectives on Policy and Practice. Sage Publication (2017), 243 pages, $81.00 (paperback).

Roles Of Social Workers At A Dialysis Center: An Action Research Project, Dominique Deshay Spigner

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

People with end-stage renal disease have higher rates of mental health diagnoses due to sudden changes in health status, lack of effective support systems, and diminished survival rates. The purpose of this action research study, and research question posed, centered on how dialysis clinical social workers perceive their roles in providing consultation to the interdisciplinary team members on how to identify and respond to patients with mental illnesses. An interview guide was used to gather data by facilitating 3 focus groups with 7 dialysis social workers in a rural town in Texas. The theory of planned behavior was used to …

Broke But Not Without Hope: Exploring Exits From Housing First And Returns To Homelessness, Jennie Ann Cole

Theses and Dissertations

“…he succeeded in giving the impression of being broke but not without hope.”

Nels Anderson, The Hobo, 1923

Introduction: This research offers a thick and rich, multidimensional and situational look, into a Housing First program in Charlotte, North Carolina. This dissertation focuses on individuals who have experienced chronic homelessness who exit Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) programs that employ a Housing First (HF) model and return to homelessness. The ultimate goal of my research was to address the gap in knowledge service providers have in housing retention for the chronically homeless and to break the cycle of misunderstanding around why people …

African American End-Stage Renal Disease And Medication Adherence: What Are The Effects Of Everyday Racism?, Tamara Estes Savage

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explored the racial medication adherence disparity in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. Prior research suggests that there are poor rates of medication adherence in the African American ESRD population. However, the reasons for this racial inequity are not understood. This dissertation explored the impact of everyday racism in the healthcare system in general and dialysis centers in particular on medication adherence. To gain an understanding of the possible contribution of everyday racism to medication nonadherence, Critical Race Theory (CRT) was used as the theoretical foundation of the study.

A total of 46 African American ESRD patients participated in …

Cruzando Fronteras: The Immigration Experiences Of Central American Women, Cecelia Quinn

Dissertations

The present study explores the immigration experiences of Central American women. As violence and poverty mounts in the Northern Triangle; Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, immigrants continue to migrate north. Immigrant women risk their lives seeking safety, opportunity, and reunions with loved ones. Central American women's immigration journeys are unique and they face the added dangers of gender-based violence. This exploratory, qualitative study guided by feminist standpoint theory allowed the women to tell their stories in their own language, as they saw fit. Twelve Central American Latinas shared their immigration experiences, responding to semi-structured interviews. Through interpretive phenomenological analysis and …

Queens Speak - A Youth Participatory Action Research Project: Exploring Critical Post-Traumatic Growth Among Black Girls Within The School To Prison Pipeline, Stacey Michelle Ault

Doctoral Dissertations

A gap exists in both research and practice when it comes to issues related to girls within the school-to-prison pipeline. Girls are also often ignored in the educational literature about trauma. Educators tend to take a deficit approach toward youth experiencing trauma and often reinforce trauma through discriminatory and exclusionary disciplinary practices. Using a Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) methodology centered in the lives of Black girls, with an intentional focus on their agency and growth, this study educated, coached, and supported a research team called Queens Speak. The primary purpose of this qualitative study was to elevate the voices …

Barriers Confronting Parents Reunifying With Children In Foster Care, Amy D'Andrade

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

How Does Alcoholics Anonymous Affect Drinking Outcomes? A Grounded Theory Perspective, Bryan Boyles

Theses and Dissertations

The mutual aid of Alcoholics Anonymous helps more people with alcohol-related problems than all forms of clinical treatment combined. Yet, efforts to understand AA’s action have been conducted, almost exclusively, from a clinical perspective. Thus far, the literature representing Alcoholics Anonymous from the perspective of its members is very limited. This study uses qualitative content analysis of the AA literature and a grounded theory approach to AA’s fellowship to provide an insider’s perspective of change processes associated with AA involvement. This understanding of the AA literature posits that Alcoholics Anonymous involvement results in life improvement, changes in spirituality, improved well-being, …

Recovery From Design, Cassandra J. Ellison

Theses and Dissertations

Through research, inquiry, and an evaluation of Recovery By Design, a ‘design therapy’ program that serves people with mental illness, substance use disorders, and developmental disabilities, it is my assertion that the practice of design has therapeutic potential and can aid in the process of recovery. To the novice, the practices of conception, shaping form, and praxis have empowering benefit especially when guided by Conditional and Transformation Design methods together with an emphasis on materiality and vernacular form.

Walking In Beauty: Responsive And Responsible Health And Healing Among Virginia American Indian People, Amy J. Prorock-Ernest

Theses and Dissertations

Little is systematically known about the collective health and well-being of Virginia American Indian people. This study sought to explore the meaning of health and healing among Virginia American Indian people in the context of a reservation-based, non-federally funded health clinic. Using an emergent approach to qualitative research grounded in a constructivist inquiry paradigm and guided by Indigenous research principles, a total of 24 in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 American Indian service-users of the Clinic. Through an inductive thematic analysis of participant stories, a framework for understanding responsive and responsible health and healing was derived. The framework includes …

Community Gardens: Exploring Race, Racial Diversity And Social Capital In Urban Food Deserts, Jennifer F. Jettner

Theses and Dissertations

Study purpose. The study examined race and racial diversity in community gardens located in Southern urban food deserts, as well as the capacity of community gardens to generate social capital and promote social justice. Methods. A mixed-methods approach was used to describe characteristics of gardeners and community gardens located in urban food deserts, and test Social Capital Theory hypotheses. A convenience sample of 60 gardeners from 10 community gardens was obtained. Data was collected using surveys and semi-structured interviews. Analyses. Univariate and bivariate statistics were used to describe gardeners and gardens. Leader rationales for garden characteristics were analyzed using thematic …

Acculturation Stress And Depression Among First-Year International Graduate Students From China And India At The University Of South Carolina, Kyunghee Ma

Theses and Dissertations

This cohort study used a mixed-methods pretest/posttest measurement study design. The quantitative method was used to explore the relationship between acculturation stress and depression among first-year international graduate students from China and India enrolled at the University of South Carolina(UofSC), examine the role that social support plays in that relationship, and identify changes in acculturation, social support, and depression over one academic year. The qualitative method helped to further explore how Chinese and Indian international graduate students experienced acculturation stress and to what extent social support helped them cope with their stress.

The sample included 55 students. Primary data were …

Young Adults In Transition: Factors That Support And Hinder Growth And Change, Mona Treadway

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Young adults between 18 and 24 years of age with mental illness are significantly less likely to receive mental health services than adults in older age groups.Nationally, higher rates of depression, substance abuse, and psychiatric issues are reported in this age group.A therapeutic model referred to as young adult transition programs has emerged to better address the unique developmental challenges found in this age group.This study examined 317 critical incidents that supported or hindered young adults in a therapeutic transition program.The research design used a combination of an instrumental case study and critical incident technique (CIT).Using interviews and the Outcome …

Reducing Adolescent Anger And Aggression With Biofeedback: A Mixed-Methods Multiple Case Study, Jedidiah S. Savard

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Adolescent anger, aggression, and violent outbursts are social problems significantly affecting each of us. Individual therapeutic management of pathological anger is treated in various ways depending on practitioners’ theoretical orientations and competency levels. Popular psychological individual and group therapies addressing anger and aggression in adolescents focus primarily on cognitive-behavioral techniques that manage anger’s symptoms. Evidence-based cognitive-behavioral therapies often require clients to self-identify emerging antecedents of anger without assistance; such therapies employ predetermined strategies to assist the client to emotionally de-escalate prior to an angry or aggressive episode. However, cognitive responses to an emotional upheaval stemming from an emergence of anger …

Community Land Trusts: A Help Or Hindrance To Community Development In The United States, Andrew Kuka

Student Research – Stevenson Center

The availability of affordable housing in the United States continues to be an issue for Americans who are on the brink of homelessness, rely on housing subsidies, or struggle to pay their mortgages or rents. These issues, as well as the gentrification threat that community development poses to low-income residents can have deleterious effects on democratic participation and community development efforts. One proposed solution to these problems is the implementation of more community land trust programs nationally. This paper will assess the practicality of CLTs, and what such an implementation would mean for individuals, government entities, community members, and community …