Social Work Commons^™

From The Editor, Peggy Pittman-Munke Ph.D.

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Journal of Contemporary Rural Social Work

Volume 8, Number 2

2016

From the Editor: Peggy Pittman-Munke, Murray State University

Systematic Review Of Veterans' Coping Strategies: How Can Rural Veterans Improve Their Quality Of Life?, Tracey Marie Barnett, Alexa Smith-Osborne, Freda Barnett-Braddock

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

This systematic review examines the empirical literature on an emerging body of coping strategies (CS), both civilian readjustment and health-risk related, experienced by United States military veterans exposed to combat stress and other military lifestyle stressors. Studies that met inclusion criteria were selected among quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods studies published in peer-reviewed journals. Population, Intervention, Comparison, and Outcome (PICO) criteria and Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) were applied to all studies. Seventeen reports meeting a priori inclusion criteria were extracted from 107 studies accessed through 9 electronic databases. Data were synthesized to investigate two research questions informing …

Reinventing Social Work Education And Service Delivery In Rural Areas: An Interdisciplinary Model For Serving Vulnerable Populations, Wayne R. Moore, Fran Pearson, John C. Rife, K. Jay Poole, Lelia S. Moore, Antonia M. Reaves

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

This article presents an interprofessional case study approach to serving the social service and health needs of vulnerable persons living rural communities. This project, the Congregational Social Work Education Initiative (CSWEI), is funded by a health care foundation. Persons in rural areas are often at risk for poverty, homelessness and lack of access to needed health and social services. The case study demonstrates the opportunities for collaboration between professional social work, religiously affiliated organizations (RAOs) and nursing in order to reduce health and mental health disparities among residents in rural areas.

Project Empower: An Innovative Approach To Community Behavioral Health Service Delivery, Saundra H. Starks, Elizabeth L. Jones, Suzie T. Cashwell, Karissa Stokes

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Project EMPOWER was a grant funded initiative designed to positively impact a rural community by providing behavioral health services and case management to low-income families. An interdisciplinary service team comprised of behavioral health specialists and graduate level interns in the fields of social work, psychiatric nursing, and counseling worked to provide services under the supervision of a doctorate level clinical social work professor. Community partnerships were forged to increase opportunities for community members to have accessible, affordable services. Using an empowerment model rooted in systems and integrated practice, the services included assessments, referrals, group, individual and family counseling, child care, …

Teaching Macro Practice Through The Use Of Experiential Instruction And Collaboration: A Formula To Create Sustainable Community Resources, Timothy O. Davis Ph.D., Kendal L. Carswell

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

While delivering an organizations and communities class to a cohort of students in an outlying rural area, a social work program explored ways to educate students effectively while simultaneously exploring and devising strategies to fill local gaps in community services. The project utilized evidence-based learning strategies focusing on experiential instruction and collaboration with local community agencies. Using aspects of the flipped classroom as well as service learning, the course was particularly interested in engaging with community stakeholders to identify issues arising from the realities of a rural service environment. Students identified a project, worked with community partners, and delivered recommendations …

Book Review: Hard Living In America's Heartland: Rural Poverty In The 21st Century Midwest, Peter A. Kindle Ph.D.

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Book Review: Hard Living in America's Heartland: Rural Poverty in the 21st Century Midwest Paula W. Dáil 2015 Jefferson, NC: McFarland 266 pages Softcover: $45.00 US ISBN-10: 0786474815 ISBN-13: 978-0-7864-7481-3

Graduation Day, Ann Malaspina

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Poem.

How To Make A Ghost Town, Ross Howerton

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Poem.

Searching The Site Fifty Years After The Fire, Maureen Tolman Flannery

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Poem.

Distant Music, John Palen

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Poem.

Family In Arms, Treri Lynn Cummings

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Poem.

Book Review: Latino Heartland, Annah K. Bender Postdoctoral Fellow

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Book Review: Latino Heartland Sujey Vega 2015 New York, NY: New York University Press 263 pages Softcover: $29.49 US ISBN-13: 978-4798-9604-2

Social Work Leadership: Emotional Intelligence In A Rural Bsw Program, Edward N. Randle

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Social work leadership is valuable to the existence and future of the profession. Equally important is leadership within academia. Leadership in academia is impelled and obligated to the historical leaders, agency organizations, communities, and individuals influenced by the profession to lead, provide vision, and educate tomorrow’s leaders. Mary Richmond and Edward Devine assembled social work education in the 1900's and were pioneers significant in shaping the vision of social work. However, there is a scarcity of empirical research regarding social work leadership within academic settings. More specifically, limited literature is available that discusses the philosophical prisms, perceived realities, and behavior …

Book Review: Rural Crime And Community Safety, Maryann Thrush

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Book Review: Rural Crime and Community Safety Vania Ceccato 2016 New York, NY: Routledge 394 pages $54.95 (Paperback) ISBN-10: 0415856434 ISBN: 978-0-203-72568-9 (ebook).

Book Review: Aging In Rural Places Policies, Programs, And Professional Practice, Heidi Moore

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Book Review: Aging in Rural Places Policies, Programs, and Professional Practice Kristina Hash, Elaine T. Jurkowski, & John A. Krout 2014 New York, NY: Spring Publishing Company, LLC 336 pages Softcover: $70.00 US ISBN-10: 0826198090 ISBN-13: 978-0-8261-9809-9

Urban School-Based Behavioral Health Providers' Attitudes Towards Evidence Based Practices, Erik D. Maki

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Evidence Based Practices (EBPs) in schools show promise in meeting the behavioral health needs of urban students, however there are multiple barriers to implementation. Providers’ attitudes towards EBPs may be one of these barriers. Through a cross sectional survey design, this dissertation answers four major research questions: 1) Is the EBPAS-50 an appropriate tool to use with school based behavioral health providers, 2) Do attitudes vary depending on level of experience (student vs. professional), 3) Do attitudes vary depending on a practitioners’ hire status (school-hired vs. non-school hired), and 4) Do EBPAS-50 scores predict implementation of EBPs? Participants were 160 …

Student Perceptions Of Services For Veterans And Military Personnel, Philip Parsons

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Many Veterans are returning from the War on Terror and making their way to universities. Due to the many aspects of war and military life many maybe, or are experiencing some level of mental health issue/s. As more Veterans make this transition, resources may not be available for them to be successful in the classroom (Whitley, Tschudi, & Gieber, 2013). After reviewing the literature, a suitable instrument to measure these variables was not available. The researcher developed a survey and sampled students of one Midwestern public university. The variables included basic demographic questions and perceptions of Veterans and the services …

Mexican American Adolescent Couples' Vulnerability For Observed Negativity And Physical Violence: Pregnancy And Acculturation Mismatch, Lela Rankin Williams, Heidi Adams Rueda

Social Work Faculty Publications

Stress and vulnerability for dating violence may be heightened among acculturating Mexican American (MA) adolescents, and MA adolescent parents, because of differing cultural values and norms within romantic relationships. We hypothesized, in a sample of MA heterosexual couples (N = 30, 15–17 years), that: 1) within-couple level acculturation discrepancies, and pregnancy/parenting, would predict physical violence perpetration, and 2) that this association would have an indirect effect through couple-level negativity during an observed dyadic video-taped discussion of conflict. Using a path model we found that pregnant/parenting adolescents (B = .37, SE = .16, p = .002), and couples with …

Identifying Ancient Settlement Patterns Through Lidar In The Mosquitia Region Of Honduras, Christopher T. Fisher, Juan Carlos Fernández-Diaz, Anna S. Cohen, Oscar Neil Cruz, Alicia M. Gonzáles, Stephen J. Leisz, Florencia Pezzutti, Ramesh Shrestha, William Carter

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

The Mosquitia ecosystem of Honduras occupies the fulcrum between the American continents and as such constitutes a critical region for understanding past patterns of socio-political development and interaction. Heavy vegetation, rugged topography, and remoteness have limited scientific investigation. This paper presents prehistoric patterns of settlement and landuse for a critical valley within the Mosquitia derived from airborne LiDAR scanning and field investigation. We show that (i) though today the valley is a wilderness it was densely inhabited in the past; (ii) that this population was organized into a three-tiered system composed of 19 settlements dominated by a city; and, (iii) …

Racial Inequality And The Implementation Of Emergency Management Laws In Economically Distressed Urban Areas, Shawna J. Lee, Amy Krings, Sara Rose, Krista Dover, Jessica Ayoub, Fatima Salman

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

This study examines the use of emergency management laws as a policy response to fiscal emergencies in urban areas. Focusing on one Midwestern Rust Belt state, we use a mixed methods approach – integrating chronology of legislative history, analysis of Census data, and an ethnographic case study – to examine the dynamics of emer- gency management laws from a social justice perspective. Analysis of Census data showed that emergency man- agement policies disproportionately affected African Americans and poor families. Analysis indicated that in one state, 51% of African American residents and 16.6% of Hispanic or Latinos residents had lived in …