Social Work Commons^™

Gender In The Time Of Covid-19: Evaluating National Leadership And Covid-19 Fatalities, Leah C. Windsor, Gina Yannitell Reinhardt, Alistair J. Windsor, Robert Ostergard, Susan Allen, Courtney Burns, Jarod Giger, Reed Wood

Social Work Faculty Publications

In this paper we explore whether countries led by women have fared better during the COVID-19 pandemic than those led by men. Media and public health officials have lauded the perceived gender-related influence on policies and strategies for reducing the deleterious effects of the pandemic. We examine this proposition by analyzing COVID-19-related deaths globally across countries led by men and women. While we find some limited support for lower reported fatality rates in countries led by women, they are not statistically significant. Country cultural values offer more substantive explanation for COVID-19 outcomes. We offer several potential explanations for the pervasive …

Is There A Difference Between Democrat And Republican States In The Percentage Of Male High School Students Who Physically Fight On Campus?, Anthony Brown, Wayne L. Davis

Lincoln Memorial University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

School violence is a common occurrence in American high schools. Victims of school violence are more likely than others to become depressed, skip school, and commit suicide. In addition, intimidation, threats, sexual harassment, prejudice, gossip, and ridicule are serious threats to successful education. Overall, about 33% of students are bullied at school by other students, and bullying leads to fights. Because Democrats and Republicans support two different types of social learning environments that will modify the behaviors of residents within their respective jurisdictions, and because public safety is an important social issue, it is important to know if there is …

Political Partisanship And Female High School Students Who Carry Handguns, Trenton Cameron, Wayne L. Davis

Lincoln Memorial University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

The United States is a gun culture nation, and gun violence is a serious problem. Because there are more than 280 million guns in America with over 65 million handguns in circulation, the Republicans believe that there are too many guns in America to prevent criminals from illegally obtaining them. In addition, only law-abiding residents will honor gun-control laws. As a result, law-abiding residents will become defenseless, which will promote crime. Democrats, on the other hand, believe that the gun-related crime problem will never be solved until actions are taken to eliminate the availability of handguns. After all, it is …

Reference Checks, Tara Myers, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What are reference checks?

Reference checks are hiring tools, typically used as one of the last steps in the hiring process. “A reference check generally involves contacting applicants’ former employers, supervisors, coworkers, and educators to verify previous employment and to obtain information about the individual’s knowledge, skills, abilities and character” (Society for Human Resource Management, 2020, p. 1). For example, potential employers use this as an opportunity to get additional information about applicants’ job performance, communication, time management, teamwork, professionalism; honesty; and attention to detail (Hendricks, Rupayana, Puchalski, & Robie, 2018). The questions used on reference checks depend on the …

Tuning In To Teens (Tint) With Adoptive Parents And Guardians In The Us: The Replication Phase Of Intervention Research, Nancy Rolock

Faculty Scholarship

Ensuring the wellbeing and stability of children with foster care experiences is critical. Between 5% and 20% of children experience post-permanency instability, a reentry into foster care after adoption or guardianship; adolescents are at increased risk for post-permanency instability. Few interventions that aim to reduce post-permanency instability have been rigorously tested. This study adapted and tested Tuning in to Teens (TINT), previously tested in Australia as a prevention program with parents of adolescents. TINT teaches caregivers skills in emotion coaching (responding with empathy, support, and guidance when young people express emotions) while helping them to reduce their dismissive or harsh …

Mental Health In College Students: Disclosure & Seeking Support, Abby R. Smargon

Honors Program Theses and Projects

A study was conducted through Bridgewater State University in order to better understand the mental health and help seeking behaviors of college students. The data collected served to provide information regarding what specific types of mental health difficulties are reported by college students.

An Ecological Approach To Improving Reentry Programs For Justice-Involved African American Men, Precious Skinner-Osei, Peter Claudius Osei

Journal of Prison Education and Reentry (2014-2023)

This article is a re-analysis of a previous study (please see https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2017.1402724). Considering the previous findings, in addition to the recent discussions around criminal justice reform, race, policing, and mental health in the United States, the data were reanalyzed using an updated version of QSR NVivo. The new findings revealed that reintegrating justice-involved African American men back into society requires reentry programs to utilize a different approach. Reentry programs must be constructed under the notion that the process involves multiple interrelated components that interact with larger systems outside the individual or organization's immediate control or organization advocating for them. …

Community Needs Assessment Of Somali Refugees’ Mental Health Needs, Sheila Stadstad

Social Work Independent Study Projects (ISP)

Within the Somali immigrant and refugee community there are severe stigma and negative associations regarding both experiencing mental health problems and pursuing services for those problems. According to research, both process and content adaptation must be made in providing mental health supports to Somali immigrants and refugees. Understanding the experiences and prominent needs of Somali refugees will assist social workers in offering mental health services that are culturally responsive and help social workers promote social justice through examining and addressing health disparity issues. This independent study project reviews the literature on the mental health needs of immigrants and refugees and …

Cultural Identity Formation: A Personal Narrative, Jose Carbajal

Faculty Publications

This paper provides an autoethnography of personal experiences and perceptions of being a minoritized individual. This is the story of a professional social worker learning to adapt to social norms and expectations of self. I discuss the struggles I experienced as an adolescent and as a young adult attending college. This narrative highlights the intersection of faith and social work at moments in my professional development. It is at this intersection that this social worker learns to live a holistic life without feeling discriminated against or ashamed of his identity. I begin to actualize a reality with imperfect beings who …

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Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

No abstract provided.

Risk And Protective Factors Associated With Custodial Grandparents’ Psychological Distress In Covid-19, Yanfeng Xu Ph.D., Merav Jedwab, Qi Wu, Sue Levkoff, Ling Xu

Faculty and Staff Publications

The fear and anxiety of COVID-19 and its related policy measures have increased individuals’ psychological distress. The objective of this study was to examine relationships between material hardship, parenting stress, social support, and resilience and custodial grandparents’ psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic and further investigate the moderating role of kinship license status. A cross-sectional survey was administered to collect data from custodial grandparents (N = 362) in the United States. T-tests, chi-square tests, and logistic regression models were conducted using STATA 15.0. Results indicated that material hardship (OR = 1.77, p < 0.001) was associated with higher odds of psychological distress, whereas custodial grandparents’ resilience (OR = 0.08, p < 0.001) and social support (OR = 0.39, p < 0.001) were associated with lower odds of experiencing psychological distress. Increased parenting stress in COVID-19 was not significantly associated with psychological distress. Kinship license status moderated the relationships between social support (OR = 0.23, p < 0.05), resilience (OR = 5.06, p < 0.05) and psychological distress. To address custodial grandparents’ psychological distress, more allocated emergency funds and tailored financial services should be provided to meet material needs, and interventions with a focus on resilience and social support are particularly needed. Although licensed custodial grandparents were more likely to experience psychological distress due to their pre-existing vulnerability than unlicensed counterparts, parallel services should be provided to all kinship caregivers.

Edhi Graveyard: Unknown In Death, Yusra Salim

MSJ Capstone Projects

The Edhi foundation continues to serve as the largest and only morgue in Karachi. They are burying bodies since 1960’s and they have a system for fingerprints of dead to help families identify. The record helps when families come searching for their missing loved ones. It also holds information about the burial and the final resting place.

Naturalism, Theism, And The Risks Of Professional Values Imposition In Psychotherapy With Theistic Clients, Jefrey S. Reber

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

The codes of ethics guiding the work of counselors and psychotherapists state that ethical practitioners pursue training in areas where they are at risk of imposing values. While training in the potential imposition of personal values is pervasive, training in the potential imposition of professional values is rare. Naturalism, the guiding worldview of science and psychology excludes theism, which is the guiding worldview of many people. Consequently, naturalism is a professional value that may be imposed on theistic clients in psychotherapy. The exclusion of theism from psychology and psychotherapy along with the naturalization of theistic experiences and concepts and the …

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Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

No abstract provided.

Help Thou My Unbelief: Exploring The Secular Sources Of Our Clients' Doubts, Edwin E. Gantt, Madeline R. Christensen, Jacob D. Tubbs

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

Issues of faith and doubt are often at the heart of religious clients’ psychological and emotional suffering. As such, they are a topic of genuine therapeutic interest. Latter-day Saint therapists have a unique responsibility to help our religious clients work through their psychological concerns, as well as help them address their religious doubts when relevant in the therapeutic setting. We argue that many of the concerns fueling client faith crises spring from taken-for-granted assumptions absorbed from our larger secular culture. Further, these assumptions are radically different from – indeed, typically antithetical to – the premises upon many of our fundamental …

A Sacred Trust, David T. Seamons

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

Being invited into the innermost intimate parts of a person’s life is a sacred trust. As such, it is one for which we must be personally prepared. Having an understanding that those in our care are sons and daughters of Heavenly Father must ground our approach to our clinical work, constantly guiding us as we assist them through the healing process.

Agency, Atonement, And Psychological Theories Of Change: A Latter-Day Saint Christian Perspective, Richard N. Williams, Edwin E. Gantt

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

This paper interrogates the relationship of the hard determinism inherent in the theories and models currently on offer in mainstream psychology and the current trends in psychotherapeutic approaches. It foregrounds the seeming contradiction between the emphasis placed on mastering and incorporating discipline-specific knowledge – which clearly assumes scientism and hard determinism – and the emphasis placed on practitioners to develop a coherent theory of change as part of their approach to effective clinical practice. We argue that hard determinism and strategies for facilitating genuine therapeutic change and transformation are incompatible where there is no clear, coherent view of human beings …

Full Issue

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

No abstract provided.

Building Capacity To Effectively Share And Use Data, Robert Blagg

Other QIC-WD Products

In child welfare, the need to utilize meaningful data to ensure that the services provided are effective in supporting children and families represents a continuing challenge. There is a large volume of data from sources that are internal and external to child welfare agencies; and it increases almost exponentially on a regular basis. It is difficult for leaders and practitioners to quickly and meaningfully synthesize, make use of, and share new information with colleagues who need it to make sound decisions. Even when data is transformed into knowledge, challenges remain around the preferred method of ensuring information reaches the individuals …

Pre-Employment Transition Services For Students With Intellectual Disabilities Who Applied For Vocational Rehabilitation Services, Alberto Migliore, John Butterworth

All Institute for Community Inclusion Publications

This data note addresses participation in Pre-ETS for students with intellectual disabilities (ID) who applied for VR services. Of the 45,110 people with ID who exited the VR program in 2018, a total of 8,809 (18%) were students who applied for Pre-ETS. Of these, 1,712 (21%) received Pre-ETS and of those who received Pre-ETS, 744 (43%) gained employment.