Social Work Commons^™

Neuroleadership A New Burnout Prevention Strategy, Zakery David Sloan

DSW Capstone Projects

This capstone project examines the current state of burnout, prevention strategies, prevalence, and introduces neuroleadership as a new leadership theory to advance burnout prevention among the public human service population. Neuroleadership presents a new conceptualization of leadership practice and burnout prevention method by utilizing neuro-informed leadership practices. This new neuro-informed leadership strategy is explored throughout the three major products of this capstone project including a systematic literature review, conceptual paper, and practice application paper.

The first product completed was a systematic literature review. This literature review included a total of 13 articles which were used to answer the research question, …

Defining Posttraumatic Stress In Law Enforcement: Normalizing Trauma Response, Britta D. Caudill

DSW Capstone Projects

Significant inequalities exist within the expectations of police officers regarding trauma exposure and the lack of mental health preventive efforts and treatment opportunities. The prevalence of stigma thrives within the thought process of this culture paired with the expectation for resiliency, as police culture focuses on the ability to repress emotion instead of utilizing appropriate coping methods. This review takes an interesting look at the history, definition, and diagnostic criteria of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by focusing on its evolution within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) over time. The primary goal is to establish a relationship between the definition …

Postpartum Depression: Mitigating Treatment Barriers For Women In Appalachia, Tabitha Simpson

DSW Capstone Projects

This capstone focuses on maternal mental needs, specifically postpartum care and postpartum depression. Each article in this capstone centers on postpartum depression, treatment barriers, introducing standard care of practice for women in rural communities, and identifying gaps leading to further research in postpartum education. Countless articles were read and utilized in conducting the systematic literature review to begin this process.

The first article in the capstone, the Systematic literature review, details the signs and symptoms of postpartum depression and how it differs from a major depressive disorder. A thorough review of the literature was conducted, identifying the central concern of …

Good Trouble: Disrupting The Disproportionality Of Black Boys In Special Education Due To Misdiagnosed And Unaddressed Trauma, Montrell Pryor

DSW Capstone Projects

Black boys experience a myriad of trauma as they navigate through society under the gaze of white patriarchy and archetypes. Whether engaging in trauma or witnessing it, it impacts Black boys tremendously, particularly in the educational setting. What typically looks like misbehavior in the classroom can be symptoms of unaddressed and untreated trauma that have been triggered and exacerbated in the school setting. As a result, this phenomenon contributes to the disproportionality of Black boys in special education and adds to the expansion of the school-to-prison pipeline.

This capstone provides a thorough examination of the literature in the form of …

Addressing The Mental Health Disparities Among Black Children During Natural Disasters: A Clinical Perspective And Response To The Covid-19 Pandemic., Brittany Reed

DSW Capstone Projects

The experiences of Black children resulting from the events surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic present a projection to create long-term mental health effects at higher rates than their peers of other races. While the long-term effects of this pandemic are still considered ongoing, the disparities within the Black community will subsequently develop into a trickle-down effect of secondary traumatic experiences faced by Black children. Then, where does that leave Black children and their mental health? This capstone project aims to examine how the Covid-19 pandemic will affect Black children, explore the mental health challenges and disparities faced by Black children resulting …

Review Of Welfare States In The 21st Century: The New Five Giants Confronting Societal Progress By Ian Greener, James Midgley

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

No abstract provided.

What Do We Know About Access To Public Benefits And Services Among Low-Income Minority Families?: A Scoping Review Of The Literature, Chi-Fang Wu, Steven G. Anderson, Anissa Sheena Chitwanga, Soohyun Yoon

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In a time of economic crisis following decades of reduced commitments to low-income families, it is critically important to improve our understanding of the obstacles encountered by low-income families attempting to access public benefits and services. Following PRISMA guidelines, this paper offers a scoping review of research published since 2000 that addresses the distinctive barriers encountered by minorities in the United States when attempting to access public benefits. While our review included studies on access to all types of public social welfare benefits, most research during the study period focused specifically on access issues in obtaining various forms of health …

A Psychometric Evaluation Of The Mutual Efficacy Scale: Factor Structure, Convergent, And Divergent Validity, Michael C. Gearhart

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Mutual efficacy refers to group members’ beliefs that collective action will be successful at achieving group goals. The primary purpose of mutual efficacy is to increase the effectiveness of interventions aimed at facilitating collective actions in communities. The present study builds on previous mutual efficacy research by examining the psychometric properties of a mutual efficacy scale. Findings suggest that the mutual efficacy scale represents a single construct, though some of the items correlate with each other. Mutual efficacy is positively correlated with neighborhood activism and not correlated with neighborhood disorder. The implications for practice and research are discussed.

Non-Contractual Relations Between Private Mutual Aid And Government During A Crisis, Roland Zullo, Heather Kiningham

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

We examine United Ways 211 call data to test for a non-contractual relationship between a mutual aid nonprofit network and the distribution of federal stimulus checks during the COVID-19 economic recession. Data trends reveal an increase in requests for cash-equivalent relief at the early stage of the 2020 recession, and that the spike in requests from government sources was more than double, proportionately, than for requests from private mutual aid sources. Regression results indicate that the probability of a request for cash-equivalent relief from a government source, as well as United Ways referrals to government agencies, were elevated by the …

Service User Involvement In Social Work Education: Enhancing Student Learning About Intimate Partner Violence, Rebecca Jury

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Men who use intimate partner violence (IPV) are often excluded from service user involvement approaches, including those provided in social work education. This article outlines Australian research in which men who use IPV developed a learning resource, the resource was shown to social work students and student feedback sought through pre- and post-test questionnaires and group discussion. Students reported increased knowledge regarding interpersonal violence, greater awareness of the skills required to engage service users who use IPV and willingness to work alongside service users who are involuntary and/or have multiple issues in future social work placements and practice. The findings …

The Contribution Of Positive Affect And Loneliness On Readiness And Self-Efficacy To Quit Smoking Among Spanish-Speaking Mexican American Smokers, Tatiana Londoño, John R. Moore, Zully C. Guerra, Nazanin M. Heydarian, Yessenia Castro

School of Social Work Faculty Publications

Background: The existing research on affective and interpersonal determinants of smoking cessation largely under-represents minority smokers, such as Latinos.

Objective: The current study examined associations between affective and interpersonal factors with intermediary smoking cessation variables among Mexican-American smokers (N = 290; 60% male).

Methods: Measures of positive and negative affect, social support, and loneliness were each examined for associations with measures of motivational readiness to quit smoking, and smoking abstinence self-efficacy. Significant predictors were entered into models simultaneously to examine their unique associations. Covariates included gender, age, and educational attainment.

Results: Negative affect (b = .68, SE b = …

School Social Workers’ Perceptions Of Compassion Fatigue Syndrome, Gloria I. Collazo Cartagena

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

School social workers face domestic violence, trauma, social violence, and mental and emotional health problems in their work context. Indeed, compassion fatigue results from professionals’ continuous exposure to these problems. This study explored school social work professionals’ perceptions of compassion fatigue. For this, the following questions were explored:the perception of school social workers working for the Puerto Rico Department of Education about compassion fatigue.

Professional Identity Within An Evolving Profession: Clinical Social Work In Puerto Rico, Lorna Betzaida Colon Gonzalez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

More than three decades of data document the challenges of clinical social workers in establishing their professional identity within the social work profession in Puerto Rico. Less is known specifically about how they identify within interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary teams in the various clinical settings on the island. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of clinical social workers in Puerto Rico regarding their professional identity as compared to generalist social workers. The generic qualitative study was based on the ecological system theory framework. Data were collected from semistructured interviews with a purposive sample of 10 clinical and …

Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy: An Exploration Of The Therapist’S Clinical Process, Marybeth Agayev

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractIn the existing research authors report that within the current field of equine-assisted therapy practitioners are using a number of approaches, some independently and others in affiliation with formal organizations, to treat a wide variety of issues in a very broad population. The purpose of this study was to determine what underlying thought processes guide the equine-assisted therapist’s role in the clinical process. This generic qualitative study included five participants who met the criteria of having 3-5 years of experience performing equine-assisted psychotherapy with mental health populations. Participants also met the standard of being licensed or certified in accordance with …

Understanding The Process Of Health Goal Achievement Among Black Men Who Have Sex With Men (Msm) In Chicago: An Exploratory Qualitative Study, Anthony Johnson

Dissertations

Background: Over the last 30 years, Black men who have sex with men (MSM) have been disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS while accounting for only approximately 1% of the population of the United States. The majority of research with Black MSM has focused on HIV infection risk factors, but very little attention has been given to their overall health and well-being. The breadth of HIV-health related research that includes Black MSM tends to demonstrate high levels of racial, environmental, and economic disparities that need to be addressed. However, more research must be conducted to explicate the process of exercising strength and …

An Interpretive Phenomenological Study Of Women’S Struggles, Hopes And Reasons For Participation In Professional Power-Based Community Organizing In Chicago, Mary Dungy-Akenji

Dissertations

Mary K. L. DungyLoyola University Chicago AN INTERPRETIVE PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF WOMEN’S STRUGGLES, HOPES AND REASONS FOR PARTICIPATION IN PROFESSIONAL POWER-BASED COMMUNITY ORGANIZING IN CHICAGO Professional power-based community organizing is a practice of grassroots change in which paid organizers guide community members as they band together to make demands on elite groups to redistribute resources (Bobo et. al, 2001; Sites et al., 2007). Conflict-based tactics may be utilized to demand structural improvements from key stakeholders, usually towards progressive political ends that build towards a more just society (Bobo et. al 2001; Wilkinson & D’Angelo, 2019). Community organizing has some roots …

The Souls Of Black Folks In The Twenty-First Century: Self-Efficacy, Grit, And Their Development In Low-Income Urban Black Youth, Amzie Moore

Dissertations

Self-efficacy and grit have shown to be internal resources for African American youth, particularly urban low-income youth living in high crime and high poverty communities. This dissertation is a quasi-experimental, longitudinal, and mix method study, which evaluated a cross-age peer mentoring program. This evaluation was to examine if youth mentors’ attendance in the program for one year predicted increases in their self-efficacy and grit. The results of the study revealed that age significantly interacted with youth attendance, predicting increases in self-efficacy. Findings from the qualitative analyses illustrated that the peer-mentoring program strengthened culturally-relevant self-efficacy and grit among youth mentors.

“An Umbrella For All Things”: Black Daughter's Sexual Decisions And Paternal Engagement, Marquitta S. Dorsey

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

Objective: The purpose of this article is to highlight the value of Black fathers to the sexual decision-making processes among Black adolescent and young adult daughters. Background: Various contextual factors, such as fewer sexual health resources in poorer communities and federal funding cuts to family planning service agencies, ultimately contribute to the sexual health decision-making of adolescent young women and may be linked to sexual health disparities among Black adolescent women. Recent studies have reported the protective nature of a Black father’s engagement to be beneficial to the behavioral outcomes of adolescent daughters. Method: Findings from 17 semistructured interviews conducted …

On Positive Parenting: Preventing Disciplinary Violence Against Children Within Egyptian Households/ حول التربية الإيجابية: منع العنف التأديبي ضد الأطفال داخل الأسر المصرية, Injie Swailam, Menatalla Fahiem, Reem Hesham, Youstina Magdy

Papers, Posters, and Presentations

Violent disciplinary practices against children are in itself a juxtaposition since violence comes from a place of safety and from those children trust the most; their parents. Parents and caregivers violently discipline their children thinking they are helping them be better. More than 1 billion children around the world, aged 4-17 years old, experience violence (Hillis et al., 2016) from those considered their source of love and safety. In Egypt, 40% of the population is made of children, and 90% of those children have experienced some sort of domestic violence from their caregivers. Using physical, verbal, and sexual violence as …

Exploring Shared Trauma In The Time Of Covid: A Simulation-Based Survey Study Of Mental Health Clinicians, Kenta Asakura, Ruxandra M. Gheorghe, Danielle Rieger, Sarah Tarshis, Stephanie Borgen, Amedeo D'Angiullibrought

School for Social Work: Faculty Publications

From fear of contracting the virus, isolation from physical distancing, to navigating lifework balance, the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to leave long-lasting psychosocial impacts on many. Shared trauma refers to similar psychological reactions to an extraordinary community event when experienced by both the clinicians and clients. We examined the experiences mong mental health clinicians in Canada and the United States (n = 196) in this online survey study during the second phase of the pandemic (Spring 2021). In addition to using traditional survey items (e.g., demographics, scales, and short answers), we also used video-recorded Simulated Clients (SC; i.e., professional actors) …