Social Work Commons^™

Review Of Prisoners Of Reason: Game Theory And Neoliberal Political Economy. S. M. Amadae. Reviewed By James Midgley, James Midgley

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

S. M. Amadae, Prisoners of Reason: Game Theory and Neoliberal Political Economy. Cambridge University Press (2016), 360 pages, $34.99 (paperback).

Review Of Black Male Violence In Perspective: Toward Afrocentric Intervention. P. Tony Jackson. Reviewed By Husain Lateef., Husain Lateef

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

P. Tony Jackson, Black Male Violence In Perspective: Toward Afrocentric Intervention. Lexington Books (2015), 171 pages, $80.00 (hardcover).

The Environment-Within-Person Perspective: Integrating A Mindfulness Framework Into Social Work Practice, Yvonne Unrau, Melinda Mccormick

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Over the last 25 years there has been increasing recognition of the role that traumatic stress plays in a wide range of health, mental health, and social problems affecting client populations served by social workers. Traumatic stress is generated by conditions in one's external environment, mediated by internal cognitive processes, and stored in the physical body. Generalist social work practitioners are trained to address conditions of the environment through a social justice lens and to help clients think through logical steps of a problem-solving or change process. However, social workers are not typically trained to understand or respond to trauma …

Evolving From An Illusionary And Self Destructive Quest For Power To A State Of Empowerment: The Curative Potential Yoga May Hold As A Vehicle To Reclaiming Bodily Empowerment For Women With Anorexia, Heather C. Pizzanello

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Eating disorders disproportionately afflict women and they are one of the most lethal mental health conditions that practitioners in the field of social work and related mental health fields encounter. Equally alarming is the fact that Anorexia Nervosa is the deadliest of all eating disorders, yet, we are struggling to find an efficacious means of successfully intervening in the treatment and recovery maintenance of anorexia. Drawing from past empirical and theoretical literature, this study explored the potential that the mind body practice of yoga might hold as a complementary therapeutic tool for women struggling to recover from anorexia. The findings …

Being On The Mat: A Process Evaluation Of Trauma-Informed Yoga For Women With Substance Use Disorders, Amy B. Smoyer

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Yoga practice is associated with positive health outcomes, including benefits related to managing substance use disorders and trauma symptomology. However, low-income vulnerable communities have limited access to yoga. This process evaluation of a trauma-informed yoga program for women with substance use disorders demonstrates the feasibility and utility of using noncertified yoga instructors to offer a basic yoga in community-based agencies. Participants describe outcomes related to relaxation, mindfulness, and movement that are well-aligned with their recovery needs. Study findings suggest the utilization of instructors with minimal training has the potential to expand research about and access to yoga among marginalized communities.

Review Of Shared Prosperity In America's Communities. Susan M. Wachter And Lei Ding. Reviewed By Cynthia Edmonds-Cady., Cynthia Edmonds-Cady

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Susan M. Wachter and Lei Ding (Eds.), Shared Prosperity in America's Communities. University of Pennsylvania Press (2016), 274 pages, $53.99 (hardcover).

Review Of Evicted: Poverty And Profit In The American City. Mathew Desmond. Reviewed By Yeqing Yuan., Yeqing Yuan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Mathew Desmond, Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City. Crown Publishers (2016), 432 pages, $28.00 (hardcover).

Undocumented Fears: Immigration And The Politics Of Divide And Conquer In Hazleton, Pennsylvania, Jamie Longazel

Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work Faculty Publications

The Illegal Immigration Relief Act (IIRA), passed in the small rust-belt city of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, in 2006, was a local ordinance that laid out penalties for renting to or hiring undocumented immigrants and declared English the city’s official language. The notorious IIRA gained national prominence and kicked off a parade of local and state-level legislative initiatives designed to crack down on undocumented immigrants.

In Undocumented Fears, Jamie Longazel uses the debate around Hazleton’s controversial ordinance as a case study that reveals the mechanics of contemporary divide-and-conquer politics. He shows how neoliberal ideology, misconceptions about Latina/o immigrants, and nostalgic imagery …

Hybrid Arrangements As A Form Of Ecological Modernization: The Case Of The Us Energy Efficiency Conservation Block Grants, Dana R. Fisher, Anya Galli Robertson

Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work Faculty Publications

How are environmental policy goals implemented and sustained in the context of political stagnation surrounding national climate policies in the United States? In this paper, we discuss Ecological Modernization Theory as a tool for understanding the complexity of climate governance at the sub-national level. In particular, we explore the emergence of hybrid governance arrangements during the local implementation of federal energy efficiency programs in US cities. We analyze the formation and advancement of programs associated with one effort to establish a sub-national low carbon energy policy: the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program administered by the US Department …

Social Work Ethics: Decision Making And Accountability, James J. Clark, Molly Malany Sayre

Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work Faculty Publications

Book accompanies course that examines the interplay of social work, values, ethics, and decision-making processes. Through the use of practice scenarios, social workers will learn how to approach risk management and thorny ethical dilemmas that are common to many practice areas. The course discusses the role of laws and regulations in regard to ethics, highlights the importance of the distinction between legal and moral problems, and describes the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics.

Defining The Problem Of Consent Education In High School Across The United States, Julia Read

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Sexual education is generally thought of as something that is mentioned once in middle school, and possibly addressed in more depth in high school. Many recall a “scared straight” approach, involving an STI and STD slideshow, and countless statistics about the ineffectiveness of birth control. Some picture a more liberal approach, involving things like learning to put condoms on bananas, or learning how to obtain birth control and STD testing at Planned Parenthood. However, when many people think about their high school and middle school sex education, they do not necessarily recall explicit consent training. Why is that? Is it …

The Complicated Process Of Caregiving: The Case Of Mr. S (James) And Ms. Q (Sherry), Nicole Saint-Louis

Publications and Research

In the midst of the daily chaos of healthcare and hospital social work, there are tender moments shared with those we serve—moments that make it a privilege to share their journey. The story of two patients is recounted by the social worker that cared for them.

It Takes A Village: Applying A Social Ecological Framework Of Resilience In Working With Lgbtq Youth, Kenta Asakura

School for Social Work: Faculty Publications

Hostile social environments can have detrimental impacts on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth. Considering the profession's commitment to social justice and person-in-environment perspectives, socia workers are well positioned to promote not only the internal capacity of LGBTQ youth but also the capacity of their social ecologies to better support them. This article suggests the relevance of a social ecological framework of resilience to social work practice with LGBTQ youth. Findings of the author's grounded theory study, along with other relevant literature, are used to specify elements in applying this framework to working with LGBTQ youth. A youth …

Health Care Utilization Among Bhutanese Refugees In Philadelphia: Exploring Vulnerabilities, Access, And Needs, Jessica Euna Lee

Bryn Mawr College Dissertations and Theses

Over 85,000 Bhutanese refugees have resettled in the United States. The worldwide refugee crisis has become a priority in recent years, making refugee resettlement a major global concern. This study examines health care utilization among Bhutanese refugees in one U.S. city during the post-resettlement period. Using grounded theory methods, this study explores individual- and structural-level factors that affect health access and health services usage among the Bhutanese community. Key themes that emerged from 30 in-depth interviews with refugee participants include: family health navigation, acculturation, insurance status, resources, health needs, types of services used, and outcomes. These themes suggest that language, …

The Willingness Of Military Members To Seek Help: The Role Of Social Involvement And Social Responsibility, Gary L. Bowen, Todd M. Jensen, James A. Martin, Jay A. Mancini

Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research Faculty Research and Scholarship

Anchored in the social organization theory of action and change, we use data from a large sample of active-duty Air Force members to examine the direct and indirect influence of social involvement and social responsibility on willingness to seek help in times of need via trust in formal systems and informal supports. Group comparisons are conducted between junior male, junior female, senior male, and senior female service members. The key mediational path in the model for all groups is the connection between social involvement and willingness to seek help via trust in formal systems. These results can inform both unit- …

Syndemic Factors Associated With Adult Sexual Hiv Risk Behaviors In A Sample Of Latino Men Who Have Sex With Men In New York City, Omar Martinez, Sonya Arreola, Elwin Wu, Miguel Muñoz-Laboy, Ethan Czuy Levine, Scott Edward Rutledge, Carolina Hausmann-Stabile, Larry Icard, Scott D. Rhodes, Alex Carballo-Diéguez, Carlos E. Rodríguez-Díaz, M. Isabel Fernandez, Theo Sandfort

Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research Faculty Research and Scholarship

Objective: Syndemic theory has been proposed as a framework for understanding the role of multiple riskfactors driving the HIV epidemic among sexual and gender minority individuals. As yet, the frameworkhas been relatively absent in research on Latinos/as.Methods: We used logistic regression to assess relationships among cumulative syndemic conditions –including clinically significant depression, high-risk alcohol consumption, discrimination, and childhoodsexual abuse – engagement with multiple partners and condomless anal intercourse (CAI) in a sample of176 Latino men who have sex with men (MSM) in New York City.Results: In bivariate analyses, an increase in the number of syndemic factors experienced was associatedwith an …

The Mental Health And Medication Experiences Of Youth In Foster Care, Caitlin Waters

Wayne State University Theses

Nearly half of children in the child welfare system have clinically significant emotional or behavioral issues (Bums et al., 2004; Leslie et al.,2004), and are medicated at higher rates than their non-foster peers (e.g. Leslie et al., 2011; Zito et al.,2003). Research shows prescription of multiple medications is also a common occurrence in foster care. The proposed study seeks to answer the question: what are foster care youth’s mental health and medication use while in placement? This research employs a quantitative descriptive study to examine medication and conduct reports for foster youth in a residential placement. Findings suggest there is …

Psychological Well-Being Of Older Chinese-American Grandparents Caring For Grandchildren, Fengyan Tang, Ling Xu, Iris Chi, Xinqi Dong

Social Work Faculty Publications & Presentations-Archive

The rapid increase in grandparents caring for grandchildren has received growing attention, but little research has focused on Chinese-American grandparents and their caregiving experiences. Drawing on cross-sectional data from the Population Study of Chinese Elderly—a communityengaged, epidemiological study of Chinese-American adults aged 60 and older, the relationships between caregiving experiences and psychological well-being were examined. Of 2,365 older adults who answered the question about grandparent caregiving, 818 (35%) were designated as caregivers, spending an average of 12 hours a week on childcare. About one in five caregivers reported caregiving burden, pressure, or negative health effect of caregiving. Caregivers had better …

An Exploratory Factor Analysis Of The Survivor Of Suicide Support Group Facilitator Scale: Identifying Meaningful Factors For Group Facilitation And Outcomes, Rebecca L. Sanford

Theses and Dissertations--Social Work

Support groups for suicide loss survivors are a relatively common resource used by those who are left to cope in the aftermath of a suicide death. Though descriptive studies have been used to provide an overview of support groups in the past, there have been no efforts to understand nuances of these groups and the impact of these groups and differing facilitation styles on the bereavement experience for attendees. This study explores primary data collected between March 2015 and December 2015 with a sample of 138 survivor of suicide loss support group facilitators in the United States and several other …

Impact Of Community Treatment And Neighborhood Disadvantage On Recidivism In Mental Health Courts, Woojae Han

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The purpose of the study is to investigate the impact of community treatment and neighborhood disadvantage on recidivism among offenders with mental health problems in Mental Health Courts (MHCs) and in traditional courts. Although treatment is believed to lead to reduced recidivism for offenders with mental illness, little research has been conducted for MHC participants. Further, neighborhood disadvantage are known to influence recidivism generally, but environmental factors have not been examined in the MHC context.