Social Work Commons^™

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) …

Returning To Their Roots: Examining The Reintegration Experiences Of Returned Indigenous Migrant Youth In Guatemala, Jenn Miller Scarnato

Social Service Faculty Publications

This article examines the reintegration experiences of Indigenous migrant youth returned to Guatemala from the United States and Mexico, thereby filling a gap in extant literature. This qualitative study employed a critical ethnographic approach with reflexive thematic analysis of fieldwork and interviews with social service providers working with this population through the lens of Critical Latinx Indigeneities. Four major themes emerged: identity negotiation (subthemes being Indigenous identities and returned migrant identities), trauma and its consequences, institutional and internalized oppression, and decolonization. Implications for social work emphasize the importance of Indigenous and decolonizing approaches to social work.

A “Totally, Acceptably Racist Environment”: Examining Anti-Black Racism In A School Of Social Work, Jenn M. Lilly, Jasmine Hillyer, Eboni Jaggers, Kayla Garnigan

Social Service Faculty Publications

Social work education is considered an important venue for advancing the field’s commitment to anti-racism. This research employed collective auto- biographical methods within a Critical Race Theory framework to explore Black social work students’ experiences of anti-Black racism in the learning environment of a Predominantly White Institution. Data was analyzed through a collaborative, inductive approach. Analysis revealed four interrelated themes: 1) racial microaggressions directed at Black students; 2) the perceived complicity of school administration in maintaining a racist environment; 3) the harm that an anti-Black racist learning environment caused to Black students; and 4) a relational approach to challenging anti-Black …

‘A Learning Experience’: Disciplinary And Parenting Practices Among Native American Families, Catherine Mckinley, Hannah Knipp, Jenn M. Lilly

Social Service Faculty Publications

Research indicates that effective disciplinary practices, such as offering praise and teaching acceptable versus non-acceptable behaviour, can act as protective factors against the social and behavioural health disparities experienced by Native Americans (NA). The purpose of this critical ethnographic study (n = 436 qualitative elder, adult, youth and professional participants) was to use the Framework of Historical Oppression, Resilience, and Transcendence (FHORT) to qualitatively examine participants' reported experiences of disciplinary practices. Thematic analysis of qualitative results indicated several approaches to disciplining children, which included the following themes: (a) Establishing Structure and Boundaries; (b) Taking Away Privileges and Rewarding Good Behavior; …

Working With Others In The Mentoring Relationship System, Thomas E. Keller

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

A mentoring relationship typically doesn’t operate in isolation. Even youth who want or need additional support from a mentor are bound to have many other important people in their lives, such as parents and other caregivers, siblings, teachers, and peers. Consequently, a mentor already may have or may need to establish relationships with other people in the mentee’s network of support. Because these other individuals, and a mentor’s interactions with them, have the potential to enhance or detract from the mentoring experience, they are all important parts of the “mentoring relationship system.”

This chapter outlines important considerations for how to …

Intervention Development To Improve Foster Youth Mental Health By Targeting Coping Self-Efficacy And Help-Seeking, Jennifer Blakeslee, Brianne H. Kothari, Rebecca Miller

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study articulates the iterative development of an intervention called Strengthening Youth Networks and Coping (SYNC), which is designed to target coping self-efficacy and help-seeking intentions and behaviors among youth in foster care. The overarching goal is to design an intervention that will be a feasible and acceptable enhancement to existing child welfare services, and that will address modifiable determinants among adolescents involved in child welfare system that are related to elevated risk for mental health challenges, limited support network capacity, and service disengagement after exiting foster care. In this paper, we describe our initial needs assessment, explain how we …

Lessons Learned From Covid-19: Provider Suggestions For Improving Service Delivery In Sexual Violence Resource Centers And Children's Advocacy Centers In Kentucky, Whitney Cassity-Caywood, Matthew Woodward, Austin Griffiths, Alecia Hatfield

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented unique challenges for human service providers, especially as face-to-face services were limited by both formal and informal efforts to protect public health. Telehealth has emerged as a main strategy to ensure continuity of care. This study explored adaptations to services in child advocacy centers (CACs) and sexual violence resource centers (SVRCs) across the Commonwealth of Kentucky, particularly using telehealth. This study highlights respondents’ suggestions about improving these service delivery systems and the particular emphasis on challenges and strengths of telehealth for reaching those in rural areas.

The Structural Clinical Model: Disrupting Oppression In Clinical Social Work Through An Integrative Practice Approach, Maria Del Mar Fariña, Peggy O'Neill

School for Social Work: Faculty Publications

It is critical that clinical social workers become actively aware of the endemic processes and manifestations of racism, social inequities, structures and dynamics of white supremacy within and across organizational, supervisory and clinical relationships. The Structural-Clinical Model (SCM) is presented, providing a multi-layered and theoretically rich pathway for clinical social workers to examine the intricate, and multifaceted interconnections expressing racialized oppressive forces across macro, meso and micro systems that impact the totality of clinical practice. SCM integrates critical race theory, liberation psychology, and relational theories bridging long standing theoretical and conceptual divides. The SCM aims to de-pathologize clients, recognizing instead …

Finding Aid For The Katye L. Patridge Collection (Mum00137)

Archives & Special Collections: Finding Aids (alphabetical)

Papers of Katye L. Patridge document her career as a home demonstration agent in the agricultural extension service of Mississippi and Virginia (1924 to 1930) as well as her higher education at Tulane University School of Social Work and a career in social work in the 1930s and 1940s that included employment in Mississippi by the Works Progress Administration, the National Youth Administration, and the State Board of Public Welfare.

Channa Reddy In Telangana Statehood Movement: Initiation, Intervention And Contribution, Jakkula Koteswar Rao, Ram Shepherd Bheenaveni

School of Social Work Faculty Publications

The present paper tries to explore some of the repeated accusations and half-truths against the Telangana leader – Dr. Marri Channa Reddy, who led the movement in 1969. It is believed that the leaders started the Telangana Statehood movement as a problem-solving movement against subregionalism. Dr. Reddy was a staunch opponent of Andhra’s internal colonization. This is not only absurd but also a parody of the truth. This is mainly due to the lack of original documents in an organized campaign for the separate state of Telangana. The print and electronic media reports speak of alarming national integration at the …

A Nationally Representative Dataset Of 1,549 Americans Aged 18 To 94 On Interest In, Experience With, And Barriers To Cogeneration, Defined As Working With Older And Younger People For Social Good, Cal J. Halvorsen, Bruce Kelley, Jim Emerman, Stefanie Weiss, David Gleicher, Jacob Stolmeier, Mark Lush

Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging

This dataset focuses on Americans’ interest in, experience with, and perceived barriers to working with members of other generations to improve the world around them. It includes responses from a March 2022 survey of 1,549 people between the ages of 18 and 94 who lived in the U.S. using the NORC at the University of Chicago AmeriSpeak® Panel. To increase the representativeness of the sample, the survey was offered both online and by phone. The sample is drawn from a probability-based panel designed to be representative of the U.S. household population. Questions focused on respondents’ efforts (paid or volunteer) to …

How The Senior Community Service Employment Program Influences Participant Well-Being: A Participatory Research Approach With Program Recommendations, Cal J. Halvorsen, Kelsey Werner, Elizabeth Mccolloch, Olga Yulikova

Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging

The federal Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) provides on-the-job training to people 55 years and older with incomes at or below 125% of the federal poverty level with multiple barriers to employment. This study examined the processes by which SCSEP may influence participant financial, physical, and mental well-being. We engaged 15 SCSEP participants and case managers over four virtual and one telephone session using a participatory research method called community-based system dynamics. Activities included identifying key problem trends, variable elicitation, developing a causal map, and identifying changes to the system to increase participant well-being. Respondents identified how individual, organizational, …

The Untended Garden: How Adoptees Navigate Relationships With First Family Members, Dawn Michele Mccormick Tracz

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This research explores how people who were adopted over the age of 6 years old in open adoption arrangements navigate ongoing relationships with first family members. It explores perceptions of how a connection with both adoptive and first family members impacts self-concept. Using an interpretivist-constructivist lens, the narratives of four women are presented and analyzed. In addition to qualitative interviews, each participant was invited to create images that represented relationships with significant family members. The narratives are re-presented in detail adhering closely to the teller’s organization and emphases. In the analysis, themes related to relationships with first family members and …

Empathy-Based Strain Among Social Workers Working With Couples Experiencing Infidelity, Jared And Rachel Taylor

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Emotionally focused therapy (EFT) social workers engaged in the practice of couples therapy often work with the issue of infidelity, which can be traumatizing to clients. EFT relies heavily on empathy-based interventions that allow the therapist to experience the pain of clients in the process of facilitating the repair of a couple's attachment bond. Yet the nature of EFT with infidelity can increase social workers’ risk of developing empathy-based strain (EBS), which can lead to personal and professional detriment and practice that harm clients. The purpose of this study was to identify and describe how social workers who practice EFT …

The Perceptions And Practices Of Child Welfare Caseworkers And Decision-Making Related To Reunification, Sonja D. Ulrich

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The child welfare system exists to support safe and healthy families. When children cannot remain safely with family, they are removed and often placed with nonrelatives. Only half of all of the children removed from their homes achieve reunification. In the current study, research questions examined the perceptions of caseworkers in determining whether or when a child could reunify with their family of removal, and how the perceptions of the caseworker affected their practice regarding reunification. Using social learning theory as a framework, a caseworker’s decisions were viewed as a balance between their work environment and their personal perceptions. Following …