Social Work Commons^™

Financial Inclusion In China: Use Of Credit, Zibei Chen, Minchao Jin

Center for Social Development Research

Limited access to credit can cause financial vulnerability for a household and economic loss for a country. Previous studies have shown that only small portions of populations in developing countries use formal credit, but few studies have focused on Chinese populations. Analyzing data from the 2011 China Household Financial Survey, this study explored Chinese households’ credit use. Over half of the sample (53.21%) reported using credit, and only 19.77% of the sample used formal credit. Use of formal credit was associated with the socioeconomic characteristics of household heads (e.g., employment and education) and of households (e.g., income and net worth). …

Health Vulnerability Of Immigrants With Limited English Proficiency: A Study Of Older Korean Americans, Yuri Jang, Hyunwoo Yoon, Nan Sook Park, David A. Chiriboga

Social Work Faculty Publications

OBJECTIVES—To examine the extent to which limited English proficiency (LEP) poses a risk to physical and mental health, using older Korean Americans as a target population.

DESIGN—Cross-sectional survey.

PARTICIPANTS—Older Korean Americans (N = 1,301).

MEASUREMENTS—Health outcomes were indexed using binary variables covering activity limitation, self-rated health, and probable depression. Participants who reported that they spoke English less than very well were categorized as manifesting LEP.

RESULTS—Approximately 71% of the sample had LEP. Those with LEP scored lower on all measures of health than their English-proficient counterparts. In multivariate models, the risk of having activity limitations was 2.72 times as great …

Placing Evidence-Based Interventions At The Fingertips Of School Social Workers, Jose Castillo, Tommi Rivers, Catherine Randall, Ken Gaughan, Tiina Ojanen, Oliver Tom Massey, Donna L. Burton

Psychology Faculty Publications

Through a university-community collaborative partnership, the perceived needs of evidence-based practices (EBPs) among school social workers (SSWs) in a large school district in central Florida was assessed. A survey (response rate = 83.6%) found that although 70% of SSWs claim to use EBPs in their everyday practice, 40% do not know where to find them, which may partially explain why 78% of respondents claim to spend 1 to 4 h every week looking for adequate EBPs. From this needs assessment, the translational model was used to address these perceived needs. A systematic review of the literature found 40 tier 2 …

Involvement In Extracurricular Activities: Identifying Differences In Perceptions Of School Climate, Andrew Martinez, Crystal Coker, Susan D. Mcmahon, Jonathan Cohen, Amrit Thapa

School of Social Work Faculty Publications

Many youth participate in extracurricular activities, and research has linked activity participation with school engagement and academic success. Social-ecological theory suggests that the social contexts of different types of extracurricular activities may differentially affect student outcomes. Yet, there is scant research examining the relation between various extracurricular activities and student outcomes. The current study seeks to address this gap by exploring how participation in three activities (sports, clubs, and arts), and combinations of these activities are associated with perceptions of school climate, using multilevel modelling. Participants included 15,004 high school students from 28 schools across 11 states in the United …

Volunteering In Oregon: Strengths And Opportunities In The Nonprofit Sector, Callie H. Lambarth, Lindsey Anne Cochran

Equity & Diversity

The Volunteering in Oregon (VIO) project, conducted in 2016 and commissioned by The Oregon Community Foundation (OCF), sought to explore key questions related to volunteering in Oregon among nonprofits in the state. The VIO project included a statewide electronic survey with a random sample of nonprofit organizations, an electronic survey with a convenience sample of volunteers within these nonprofits, interviews with representatives from nonprofit organizations, and three case studies based on a document review and key stakeholder interviews with representatives of each organization. Ultimately, the aim of the VIO project was to identify recommendations and action steps for how OCF …

Technology And Opportunity: People With Serious Mental Illness And Social Connection, Lisa Townsend, Allison Zippay, Kyle Caler, Bradley Forenza

Department of Social Work and Child Advocacy Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Objective: Little information exists regarding how individuals with serious mental illness use technology and whether this usage facilitates social connections. This study contributes to filling this knowledge gap by examining ways in which a sample of persons with serious mental illness use cell phones and the Internet. Methods: Interviews with 50 consumers living in supported housing were asked about their use of cell phones and computers and their perceptions of social connections. Results: Cell phones and computers allowed greater linkage with social, medical, mental health, and employment resources. Nearly all obtained phones through publicly funded programs. “Running out of minutes” …

Introduction To The Special Section: Positive Developmental Strategies For Engaging Emerging Adults And Improving Outcomes, Janet S. Walker, Celeste Seibel, Sharice Jackson, John D. Ossowski

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

As compared to any other age cohort in the US population, young people in late adolescence and early adulthood have a higher rate of unmet need for mental health services. Not only are these young people (from about 16 to 25 years old, and referred to here as “emerging adults”) more likely to experience a serious mental health condition (SMHC), but they are also less likely to engage in services. Furthermore, when emerging adults do engage in services, they face multiple barriers to service continuity, particularly as they come up to “milestone” ages at 18, 21, and 24.

There is …

Exploring The Relationship Of Healthy Lifestyle Characteristics With Food Behaviors Of Low-Income, Food Insecure Women In The United States (Us), Kimberly Ann Wollard

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) self-reported surveys from 2007-2012, this research explored the relationship between four healthy lifestyle characteristics - healthy weight, adequate daily fruit and vegetable intake, regular moderate to vigorous physical activity and not smoking - with food behaviors of low-income, food insecure women. The study examined three specific food behaviors (the use of SNAP, consumption of fast foods, and the utilization of community emergency food programs) to determine if these behaviors had a significant impact on low-income, food insecure women to follow healthy lifestyle characteristics. A secondary data analysis was conducted …

What Are Factors Of An Effective Parent And Family Involvement Program Within High School?, Nicole Walsh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

According to the literature, parents or guardians of high school students will participate within the high school—though their participation is dependent on many factors. Parents with a higher social capital tend to be the most involved, while parents with lower social capital tend to be less involved. In other words, generally parents or guardians with high social capital would be much more likely to be involved in their child’s school, whereas parents with low social capital would not be involved in their child’s school at all (Goodwin, Rothon, Stansfeld, 2012). In this study, the researcher formulated and analyzed the following …

People Who Live Unsheltered: The Role Of Trust In The Bond Component Of Their Working Alliances, Candice Morgan

Theses and Dissertations

An estimated 240,000 individuals are unsheltered, sleeping on the street, under abandoned buildings, in ditches and fields, and other locations in communities each night. Using semi-structured interviews, I sought to understand the nature of the working alliances of people living unsheltered and the role of trust in the bond component of those working alliances. Findings highlight that people who live unsheltered engage in alliances with either strangers or acquaintances to complete a simple task, which often results in the attainment of a basic item or assistance. In some but not all alliances trust plays a role. Trust alliances in-volve vulnerability …

On Becoming An Ecologically Conscious Social Worker: Exploring Professional Identities That Include A Response To The Environmental Crisis, Meredith C. F. Powers

Theses and Dissertations

Mounting scientific evidence about the global environmental crisis has created an urgent call to action for all people to promote sustainable environmental practices that enhance the well-being of humans and the ecological systems in which they live. Despite the increasing body of social work literature or the recent social work leadership’s emphasis on this call to action, the social work profession as a whole has been slow to embrace an “expanded professional identity” that includes a response to the environmental crisis. Further insight is needed from individual social workers who have expanded professional identities. Knowledge is needed from their specific …

Entertaining Angels: Homelessness And The Hospitality Of Faith In Adams County, Christopher R. Fee

English Faculty Publications

I first volunteered at a soup kitchen in the frigid depths of winter in very late 1981 or very early 1982, in the heart of the Rust Belt in the midst of a terrible recession. I should emphasize right from the onset that I didn’t want to be there: I was next to useless and very intimidated, forced to be there by the tradition of service at my all-boys Catholic high school. Still, the experience made quite an impression on me, and I tell that story to my students so that they will understand that I know what’s like to …

Temporal Effects Of Distressed Housing On Early Childhood Risk Factors And Kindergarten Readiness, Claudia J. Coulton, Francisca García Cobián Richter, Robert L. Fischer, Youngmin Cho

Faculty Scholarship

Poor housing quality and housing crises have been linked to adverse outcomes for children. However, few studies have focused on the early childhood period or been able to pinpoint how the timing and duration of housing problems contributes to early educational success. This longitudinal study draws on linked administrative records from housing, education, social service and health agencies to examine the influence of exposure to housing neighborhood conditions since birth on school readiness of all children entering kindergarten over a four-year period in a big city school system. Using marginal structural models that properly account for dynamic housing and neighborhood …

Title Iv-E Child Welfare Education Program Evaluation, Jeffrey David Waid, Lea Ann Holder, Marty Lowrey, Katharine Cahn

Child Welfare

The Child Welfare Education Program (CWEP) is a partnership between Portland State University’s School of Social Work and Oregon’s Department of Human Services (DHS), Child Welfare Agency. The mission of the program is to improve outcomes to children and families who come in contact with State or Tribal Child Welfare by strengthening the child welfare workforce.The program assists state and tribal child welfare employees and recruits in pursuing a Bachelor or Master of Social Work degree with a focus of study in child welfare, providing tuition assistance, specialized course work and educational support.The current CWEP evaluation focuses on providing formative …

Longitudinal Trajectory Of Adolescent Exposure To Community Violence And Depressive Symptoms Among Adolescents And Young Adults: Understanding The Effect Of Mental Health Service Usage, Wan-Yi Chen, Kenneth Corvo, Yookyong Lee, Hyeouk "Chris" Hahm

Social Work (Graduate) Faculty Publications

Research on the impact of exposure to community violence tends to define victimization as a single construct. This study differentiates between direct and indirect violence victimization in their association with mental health problems and mental health service use. This study includes 8947 individuals from four waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health and examines (1) whether sub-types of adolescent victimization are linked to depressive symptoms; (2) whether adolescent victimization is linked with mental health service use; and (3) the role of mental health service use in attenuating symptoms arising from victimizations. Adolescents witnessing community violence were …

Admitted: A Novella, David A. Patterson Silver Wolf (Adelv Unegv Waya)

Books and Monographs

Daniel becomes the new resident manager of First Step, a center for men with alcoholism or drug addiction. A fictional account of the experiences of the men in treatment and of Daniel as he works at First Step, attends school, and deals with his own addictions.

Financial Outcomes In Seed For Oklahoma Kids, Margaret M. Clancy, Sondra G. Beverly, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

The SEED for Oklahoma Kids (SEED OK) experiment is a large-scale policy test of universal, automatic, and progressive Child Development Accounts (CDAs). This fact sheet highlights selected SEED OK financial outcomes measured between 2007 and 2014. Because of SEED OK’s automatic account opening and initial deposits, the CDA has especially large impacts on OK 529 savings among disadvantaged children. Advantaged children are more likely than disadvantaged children to have individual savings in OK 529 accounts, and average individual savings are higher for advantaged children. But, the CDA increases the likelihood that disadvantaged children have OK 529 accounts opened by their …

New Studies Of Children’S Work, Acquisition Of Critical Skills, And Contribution To The Domestic Economy, David F. Lancy

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

In spite of the fact that the very earliest ethnographers who paid any attention to children took note of the “precocity” displayed by children in both learning the household (e.g., caring for a younger sibling) and subsistence (harvesting and processing grain), tasks characteristic of the societies under investigation, the first synthesis and cross-cultural compilation of this large body of descriptive material is quite recent. This first, introductory, article in this collection reviews those efforts to systematize the study of children’s work and leads the reader through a catalog of the major conclusions or generalizations that have emerged from this analysis. …

Mental Health Practitioners’ Understanding Of Informed Consent With Adolescents, Blanca I. Santana

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study was to understand the impact of informed consent on the delivery of psychiatric services to adolescents and the way in which mental health practitioners understand and address informed consent in their treatment of adolescents. A key focus of this study examined how informed consent influenced adolescent mental health utilization and retention.

The study sought to explore the following questions: (1) How do practitioners understand adolescent informed consent? (2) How does informed consent affect adolescent access to mental health treatment and utilization as perceived by practitioners? (3) How do practitioners understand and describe the impact informed …

Tradition And Transition: American Orthodox Jewish Women Preparing And Becoming Sexually Active Within Marriage, Shoshannah D. Frydman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The purpose of this project is to expand knowledge about the lived experience of married Orthodox Jewish women’s preparation and transition into sexual activity in marriage. When Orthodox women get married, they are undergoing a significant shift, for many, this is their first experience having a sexual relationship. In addition to the prohibition of premarital sexual behavior, the Orthodox Jewish community has a number of rituals, laws, and practices specifically related to menstruation and sexual relations within marriage. These laws, taharat hamishpacha, or family purity, are a set of laws and practices that regulate sex within marriage for both …