Social Work Commons^™

Youth & Young Adult Peer Support: What Research Tells Us About Its Effectiveness In Mental Health Services, Sharice Jackson, Janet S. Walker, Celeste Seibel

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Increasing the availability of peer support for youth and young adults with serious mental health conditions has been advocated by service users, researchers, and government commissions. Efforts to provide peer support for young people are becoming more and more common. This FAQ describes the research evidence for peer support, as well as some of the challenges that can be expected when peer support is implemented.

The Spirit Of Haudenosaunee Youth: The Transformation Of Identity And Well-Being Through Culture-Based Activism, Bonnie M. Freeman

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation examines the connection between Indigenous knowledge and culture-based action, and how this connection facilitates a sense of identity and well-being for Haudenosaunee youth. This study examines the experience of fourteen Haudenosaunee youth and five parents/adults as they ran for four summers (2005-2008) on a youth-led spiritual journey known as the Unity Run. On this journey youth travelled throughout Haudenosaunee traditional territory (Ontario and Quebec, Canada; and New York State, U.S.A.) and beyond (Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee) carrying a message of peace, unity and social justice.

The methodology of this research is framed within Haudenosaunee traditional protocols (visiting and …

Maps Of Marginalization: Exploring The Healthcare Experiences Of Men And Women With Fibromyalgia, Michelle J. Skop

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This qualitative study explored the retrospective and ongoing healthcare experiences of men and women who have a diagnosis of fibromyalgia (FM), a contested, chronic, and gendered condition of unknown origin. The research question was: "How do men and women who have a diagnosis of FM experience interactions with healthcare providers?" The study, which was epistemologically rooted in the critical theories of feminist poststructuralism and intersectionality, blended constructivist grounded theory with a participatory component, an arts-based research methodology called body-map storytelling. Thirty-five participants were recruited from the Greater Toronto Area and Kitchener-Waterloo. Ten participants completed in-depth interviews while 25 participants completed …

Embracing The Grey Zone: Navigating Flexible Boundaries At Welcome Inn Community Centre, Carly H. Gaylor

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This thesis is an exploration of relationships and issues of professional boundaries at Welcome Inn Community Centre, a faith-based community centre offering programs and services to address issues of poverty in Hamilton, Ontario. Data was gathered through semi-structured qualitative interviews with fifteen staff members, volunteers, and participants at Welcome Inn. A strengths-based perspective combined with mutual relationships and flexible boundaries were found to foster inclusion, acceptance, community building, and personal transformation at Welcome Inn Community Centre; Welcome Inn staff, volunteers, and program participants described these qualities positively. Mixed positive and negative comments were used to describe decision-making and boundaries at …

Perceptions Of Determining Factors: A Case Study Of Eviction Risks Of People Who Hoard In Waterloo Region, Emily J. Gibson

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Recently distinguished as a distinct disorder in the DSM-V, hoarding remains a behaviour about which we have only a cursory understanding. Hoarding behaviours can lead to a variety of health and safety risks, not only for the person who hoards, but for others who live with them, and their neighbouring community. Many studies make reference to the vulnerability of people who hoard as a result of these health and safety risks However, there has been little written about eviction specifically due to hoarding. This study explores the research question: what factors enable individuals who hoard to maintain their housing when …

"It's Not Written In Stone": A Narrative Analysis Of The Mothering Experiences Of Women Who Experienced Childhood Sexual Abuse By A Family Member, Eva L.P. Burrill

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Within the existing body of literature on women survivors of intrafamilial childhood sexual abuse (CSA), there is extant literature that indicates that survivors will experience mothering challenges later in life. However, little research has focused on the possibility that mothering might also function as a site of healing. Addressing this gap, this thesis explores the mothering experiences of six women who experienced childhood sexual abuse by a family member. Working within a narrative methodology, data was gathered through semi-structured, in-depth interviews, and analyzed using a combination of categorical-content and holistic-content analysis. Three overarching themes were identified: 1) The Impact of …

Human Service Professionals' Practice With Families After Parental Incarceration, Renata Aloma Hedrington Jones

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Social workers and other human services professionals helping families reintegrate after parental incarceration deal with multiple issues without a model of for facilitating family resilience. The purpose of this phenomenological research study was to explore the essence of the perceived role, activities, and practices of a sample of social workers and other human service professionals engaged in the use of family group conferences (FGCs). FGCs are also referred to as restorative justice, as they inform and assist human service professionals in developing clinical interventions and best practices to support reintegration, family preservation, and stabilization. The framework for this study was …

The Emotional Impact On Elderly Spouses Who Placed Their Loved Ones In Long-Term, Barbara Hunt

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Aging may bring mental and/or physical decline. There may come a point when a loved

one needs long-term care in a nursing home. The purpose of this phenomenological study

was to examine the community dwelling spouses' emotional state. A study was

conducted with 10 individuals (5 men and 5 women) who had a spouse in long-term

nursing care. Inclusion criteria was to be at least 65-years old, have been married at least

30 years, and reside alone in his or her own home. The social emotional selectivity theory

and the construct of boundary ambiguity were applied to view the epoch. …

Knowledge Of Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Among African American Parents, Jamille T. Harrell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Abstract Domestic minor sex trafficking in the United States is a human rights issue and social problem affecting over 300,000 children ages 12-17, 43% of whom are African American girls. This survey was an exploration of domestic minor sex trafficking knowledge among African American parents and their protective strategies to prevent victimization. Ecological systems theory provided a conceptual framework to examine the environmental factors shaping parental knowledge. The sample consisted of 2 Southern California African American churches (n = 38, n = 32) that served different socioeconomic groups. The African American Sex Trafficking Knowledge survey was researcher designed and pretested …

Therapeutic Foster Parents' Perspectives Of The Efficacy Of Preservice Training, Mirae Jean Grant

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Preservice training programs offered in a city in the Pacific Northwest have not been assessed to determine whether they adequately prepare therapeutic foster parents (TFPs). This phenomenological study identified factors that influenced the impact of preservice training on parents' preparation to manage their foster children's behavior, foster parent attrition, and multiple moves of the foster children. Chamberlain, Rork, McNeil, and Christenson's work linking training programs with the success of foster children was used to frame this study. Data were generated from semistructured interviews of 12 certified local TFPs who had completed preservice training and had at least one child placed …

Improving Depression Care For Older Home Health Patients, Sarah R. Schirmer

DNP Projects

Rates of depression in older home healthcare (HH) patients are highly prevalent. Although depression in this population is associated with increased rates of re-hospitalization, falls, and suicides, it is frequently under diagnosed and under treated. This Capstone Report examined this problem through three interrelated manuscripts. The first manuscript explored the problem through a review of the literature. This review determined that while there are many barriers to adequate depression care, programs that train clinicians to screen for depression and connect patients to depression care encourage adequate evaluation and treatment and can result in clinically significant changes in depression scores. This …

The Interaction Effects Of Subjective And Structural Factors On Crime Among Formerly Incarcerated Males, Christopher Alvin Veeh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The high rate of recidivism in the over 600,000 individuals who return from incarceration each year is an important social problem facing U.S. society and the criminal justice system. Efforts undertaken so far early in the 21st century to address the problem of recidivism in the formerly incarcerated, particularly prison reentry programs, have produced disappointing results at reducing the rate of recidivism. Therefore, there is a need to identify new ways for prison reentry programs to reduce recidivism among individuals recently returned from prison, and social work with its person-in-environment perspective can make an important contribution through conducting research to …

Racism Vs. Social Capital: A Case Study Of Two Majority Black Communities, Bruce W. Strouble

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Several researchers have identified social capital as a means to improve the social sustainability of communities. While there have been many studies investigating the benefits of social capital in homogeneous White communities, few have examined it in Black homogeneous communities. Also, there has been limited research on the influence of racism on social capital in African American communities. In this dissertation a comparative case study was used within a critical race theory framework. The purpose was to explore the role of racial oppression in shaping social capital in majority African American communities. Data were collected from 2 majority Black communities …

Journal Of Sociology And Social Welfare Vol. 42 No. 1 (March 2015)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Table of Contents

• SUCCESSFUL APPROACHES TO ENDING FEMALE GENITAL CUTTING - Kay Young McChesney
• THE 47 PERCENT: U.S. TRENDS IN INCOME MAINTENANCE AND MEDICAID SPENDING, 1990-2011- Elgin Mannion and Gordon C. Chang
• UNDERSTANDING FRINGE ECONOMIC BEHAVIOR: A BOURDIEUSIAN-INFORMED META-ETHNOGRAPHY - Peter A. Kindle and Mary A. Caplan
• TACTICAL DECISION-MAKING: COMMUNITY ORGANIZERS DESCRIBE ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN SOCIAL ACTION CAMPAIGNS - Donna Hardina, Mathew Ari Jendian, and Catherine Garoupa White
• RELIEVING HUMAN SUFFERING: COMPASSION IN SOCIAL POLICY - Mary Elizabeth Collins, Sarah Garlington, and Kate Cooney
• SELF-EMPLOYMENT AND PUBLIC EMERGENCY WORK IN URBAN LABOR MARKETS DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION: THE CASE OF …

Tactical Decision-Making: Community Organizers Describe Ethical Considerations In Social Action Campaigns, Donna Hardina, Matthew A. Jendian, Catherine G. White

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Social work curriculum on social action-oriented organizing methods is often devoid of content on the day-to-day role of the organizer in recruiting diverse participants, facilitating group decision-making, and planning and implementing campaigns. Little attention is paid to how tactical decisions are made and how the ethical implications of these decisions are weighed. In this study, professional organizers were interviewed about how they viewed their work, their relationships with their constituents, and the values and ethical principles used to make tactical decisions.

Understanding Fringe Economic Behavior: A Bourdieusian-Informed Meta-Ethnography, Peter A. Kindle Phd, Cpa, Lmsw, Mary Caplan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper is a meta-ethnography of four low-income communities in order to explore fringe economic behaviors. Rejecting the interpretation of fringe economic behaviors as irrational, we affirm these behaviors as viable alternatives for people marginalized in the mainstream economy. Using a meta-ethnographic method and employing the concepts of sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, we identify the habitus and social capital values of each community as distinct Bourdieusian fields and conclude that an awareness of the localized development of a fringe economic cluster with distinct goals and rules undermines one-size-fits-all social welfare programs.

Self-Employment And Public Emergency Work In Urban Labor Markets During The Great Depression: The Case Of Industrial Cities, Robert Boyd

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Self-employment and public emergency work were frequent reactions to the economic dislocations of the Great Depression. Census data for men show that in urban-industrial centers, self-employment reduced the demand for public emergency work by absorbing displaced workers into the entrepreneurial sector. Census data for women reveal that, in these centers, self-employment and public emergency work coexisted due to mutually beneficial relations between women who were self-employed and those women who worked on government projects. The results suggest that, contrary to popular theoretical and ideological views, there is no inherent conflict between private- and public-sector responses to stagnant labor markets.

Health Status, Medicare Part D Enrollment, And Prescription Drug Use Among Older Adults, Jin Kim

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

To account for potential selection factors in the observed relationship between Medicare Part D coverage and prescription drug use, this study uses data from the 2010 and 2012 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to first examine the determinants of Medicare Part D enrollment, paying particular attention to the role of functional health status on the enrollment decision. Next, the study assesses whether and to what extent Medicare Part D coverage moderates the effect of functional health status on prescription drug use and monthly out-of-pocket spending among older adults. As prior studies indicate, the findings reveal that individuals …

Relieving Human Suffering: Compassion In Social Policy, Mary E. Collins, Sarah Garlington, Kate Cooney

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Human suffering is always present in society. There is general consensus that action should be taken to address suffering, but there are differing views as to the appropriate means of doing so. In this paper we utilize a classical understanding of the virtue of compassion to answer the research question: How does contemporary U.S. policy address human suffering through compassionate response? To answer this question, we conduct a critical analysis of three policy domains (hospice care, domestic violence, and disaster relief) to determine variation in response to human suffering. Comparisons among the domains suggest the various ways in which compassion …

Review Of Social Justice In Clinical Practice: A Liberation Health Framework For Social Work. Dawn Belkin Martinez And Ann Fleck-Henderson (Eds.). Reviewed By Nancy Feldman., Nancy Feldman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Dawn Belkin Martinez & Ann Fleck-Henderson (Eds.), Social Justice in Clinical Practice: A Liberation Health Framework for Social Work. Routledge (2014), 218 pages, $48.95 (paperback), $155.00 (hardcover).

The 47 Percent: U.S. Trends In Income Maintenance And Medicaid Spending, 1990-2011, Elgin Mannion, Gordon C. Chang

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

We analyze trends and variations in state-level expenditure growth for Medicaid, SSI, SNAP, and TANF. We explore three areas of interest: (1) How program structure impacts growth; (2) How programs responded to the 2008/2009 recession; and (3) How state preference for limited government, measured by Right- To-Work (RTW) status and political affiliation, impacts program expenditure growth. Findings show that program structure impacts expenditure growth: the state-matched programs like TANF and Medicaid grew slower from 1990-2011 than did open-ended federal programs like SNAP. OLS models found states with RTW policies and large Hispanic populations positively associated with higher income maintenance and …

Differences In Experiences Of Racial And Ethnic Microaggression Among Asian, Latino/Hispanic, Black, And White Young Adults, Shandra Forrest-Bank, Jeffrey Jenson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Racial and ethnic discrimination is a significant risk factor for health and mental health problems among non-White children, adolescents, and adults. Recent evidence suggests that a form of discrimination known as microaggression, characterized by subtle and often unintentional acts of discriminatory behavior, is associated with detrimental effects on the psychological and emotional wellbeing of non-White individuals. We examined differences in microaggression experiences among a sample of 409 Asian, Latino, Black, and White young adults. The Racial and Ethnic Microaggressions Scale (Nadal, 2011) was used to measure respondents’ experiences of racial and ethnic microaggression. Young adults in all the non- White …

Review Of Social Development Theory & Practice. James Midgley. Reviewed By Lynne M. Healy., Lynne M. Healy

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

James Midgley, Social Development Theory & Practice. Sage Publications, (2013), 296 pages, $40.00 (paper), $120.00 (hardcover.)

Review Of Creating Positive Systems Of Child And Family Welfare: Congruence With The Everyday Lives Of Children And Parents. Gary Cameron, Marshall Fine, Sarah Maiter, Karen Frensch, And Nancy Freymond (Eds.). Reviewed By David Tobis., David Tobis

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Gary Cameron, Marshall Fine, Sarah Maiter, Karen Frensch, and Nancy Freymond (Eds.), Creating Positive Systems of Child and Family Welfare: Congruence with the Everyday Lives of Children and Parents. University of Toronto Press, (2013), 352 pages, $56 cloth, $27.96 paperback.

Review Of Youth Work: An Institutional Ethnography Of Youth Homelessness. Naomi Nichols. Reviewed By Melinda Mccormick., Melinda Mccormick

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Naomi Nichols, Youth Work: An Institutional Ethnography of Youth Homelessness. University of Toronto Press, (2014). 158 pp., $24.95, paperback.

Introduction To The Special Issue: New Scholarship In Institutional Ethnography, Paul C. Luken, Suzanne Vaughan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Twelve years ago the Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare (JSSW) published a special issue devoted to institutional ethnography, “Institutional Ethnography: Theory and Practice” (Winfield, 2003). This alternative sociology, founded by Dorothy E. Smith, begins from the standpoint of the experiences of particular, active subjects and sets out to discover and describe the social relations shaping those experiences (Smith, 1987, 2005, 2006). JSSW, dedicated to publishing new, cutting-edge theoretical and methodological articles, was the first academic journal to devote a special issue to this new mode of inquiry used to investigate the social world. Over the ensuing years, the number …

Interrogating The Ruling Relations Of Thailand’S Post-Tsunami Reconstruction: Empirically Tracking Social Relations In The Absence Of Conventional Texts, Aaron Williams, Janet Rankin

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper discusses methodological strengths and challenges in doing institutional ethnographic (IE) research in communities devastated by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Southern Thailand. IE is a mode of inquiry used to describe institutional mechanisms of reconstruction, aid, and recovery and to show how recovery efforts affected real people and communities over time. The chaotic nature of a disaster zone, combined with the more common difficulties of conducting research in a developing region relying on a translator, posed various challenges in the conduct of this IE study. Textual data, one of the important tools used in IE research, were …

(Un)Safe At School: Parents' Work Of Securing Nursing Care And Coordinating School Health Support Services Delivery For Children With Diabetes In Ontario Schools, Lisa Watt

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Using institutional ethnography and its approach to mapping institutional sequences (Smith, 2005; Turner, 2006), this paper examines the social organization of School Health Support Services (SHSS) for children with diabetes in Ontario schools. The inquiry starts with my own situated experience as a mother of a child with diabetes starting kindergarten, and the trouble of securing the health supports necessary to care for my child’s health and safety while she is at school. The paper takes up two specific texts—the Community Care Access Centre (CCAC) Referral Form and the CCAC Medical Orders for Services at School—to explore and describe how …

Review Of This Changes Everything: Capitalism Vs. The Climate. Naomi Klein. Reviewed By Sheila D. Collins., Sheila Collins

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Naomi Klein, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate. (2014). Simon & Schuster. $30 (hardcover), 576 pages.

Towards An Institutional Counter-Cartography Of Nurses’ Wound Work, Nicola Waters

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Under the banner of continuous quality improvement, process mapping has become an increasingly routine feature of healthcare administration. Driven by demands to improve efficiency through standardization, nurses’ knowledge of their often-unpredictable work is routinely changed to fit within graphical representations that depict it as objectively controllable. Tensions that arose as I attempted to apply my knowledge as a specialist nurse in the rapidly changing area of outpatient wound clinics formed the direction for my institutional ethnography (IE) inquiry. As a student new to IE, I encountered challenges as I tried to explain to my informants how Dorothy Smith’s alternative sociology …