Social Work Commons^™

Linkages Evaluation Coaching Final Report, Amy D'Andrade

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Investigating The Theory Of Ambiguous Loss: The Role Of Ambiguity Tolerance In Pre-Death Grief For Caregivers Of Individuals With Dementia, Megan Kale-Cheever

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis sought to investigate the relationship between ambiguity tolerance and caregiver grief within the framework of ambiguous loss theory. Thirty-one family caregivers completed a quantitative survey comprising two pre-existing scales and several demographic questions designed to assess level of ambiguity tolerance, level of grief, caregiver age and gender, type of relationship to the care recipient, living situation, length of caregiving career, level of Social support and frequency of difficult behaviors. Quantitative data analysis revealed that while no relationship existed between total ambiguity tolerance and total caregiver grief, a modest, inverse relationship exists between tolerance toward general-type ambiguity and burden, …

Contrasting Perceptions Of Motivation To Change: Clinicians And Substance Abuse Clients, Arthur Tabrizi

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Substance abuse persists as one of the most costly, prevalent, and damaging health problems in the United States. As of 2012, an estimated 22 million individuals, approximately 8.9 percent of the total population, were diagnosed with substance abuse or dependence disorder. Considering the significant number of clients served, successful national completion rates among individuals utilizing outpatient care remain markedly low. In the state of Nevada, where the present study is conducted, successful intensive outpatient treatment (IOP) completion rate remains at an alarmingly low 20.1 percent. Early dropout is a particular concern in that duration of participation in treatment has been …

Spatial Patterns Of Rural And Exurban Residential Settlement And Agricultural Trends In The Intermountain West, Saleh Ahmed

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Population growth is often linked to negative impacts on agriculture. However, the effects of residential development likely depends on the spatial pattern of development, such as whether housing is clustered or dispersed, and whether it is located near or away from important farmland. For several decades, rural and urban planners have advocated policies to encourage consolidated forms of development as one strategy to protect agriculture and preserve open space. To date, relatively little empirical research has been conducted on the actual effects of different spatial patterns of residential settlement on agricultural. This study aims to fill that gap with a …

An Education Saved My Life: Silver Wolf’S Path To Promise, David Patterson Silver Wolf (Adelv Unegv Waya)

Books and Monographs

In An Education Saved My Life, Professor David A. Patterson Silver Wolf (Adelv unegv Waya) narrates his path from a difficult early family life, his introduction to alcohol and drugs as an adolescent, and a directionless early adulthood overshadowed by chemical dependency, to a series of events and encounters that transformed his life. Dr. Patterson Silver Wolf attributes not only the substance abuse, but the many turns that led to it, to what he calls a “poor belief system.” As the title suggests, by contrast, he attributes much of the success he has experienced since then to his education, but …

A Resident Advisor’S Guide To Students With Perceived Eating Disorders, Danielle Smith

Honors Projects

Abstract
According to an extensive 2013 survey conducted by the National Eating Disorder Association which examined 165 different college campuses to see what was being done on campuses nation wide to spread awareness about disorders as well as treat them. There is still a significant gap in perceived need and available counseling or nutritional services by staff specializing in eating disorders on college campuses throughout the country” (National Eating Disorder Association). Therefore, the purpose of this honors project is to develop a comprehensive training guide for resident advisors on Bowling Green State University’s campus to utilize in order to support …

Closing The Gap Between Skipped-Generation Households And Available Resources And Services, Daniel Ruff

Ohio Association of Gerontology and Education Conference (2015)

Purpose statement (objectives) This examination seeks, • first, to sensitize gerontologists to some of the adversities and prospects faced by grandparents raising grandchildren; • second, to provide an overview of current research and theory regarding the demographic through both a phenomenological and a life-course perspective—and a more recent theoretical lens of Generational Intelligence—for inter-generational work; and • third, to suggest implications for future interventions with skipped-generation families. Descriptive narrative of the presentation Generations United reports [Family Matters: Multigenerational Families in a Volatile Economy (2011)] that more than 51.4 million Americans of all ages (about one in six) live in multi-generational …

Improving Healthcare Outcomes Through An Interdisciplinary Effort Of Social Work And Pharmacy In A “Village” Model Setting, Elizabeth Hipp, Lauren Post

Ohio Association of Gerontology and Education Conference (2015)

No abstract provided.

The Importance Of Treatment For Foster Youth, Lyl T. Cartagena

Creative Activity and Research Day - CARD

This presentation provides an overview of mental health interventions including highlights of their outcomes.The summary of the extant findings helps identify the strengths and deficits of what has been done, and supports a call for further research in order to change current methods of care provided along with developing an improved method of treatment for foster care youth.

Community Engagement At Work: A Service-Learning Project With Kalamazoo Loaves And Fishes, Katrina Goodall, Pamela Jenkins, Cherlynn King, Jacob Lisak, Jennifer Malone, Becky Mullins, Douglas Schroeder, Christina Smith

Research and Creative Activities Poster Day

This Service-Learning project combined experiential learning with the Evaluation component of Participatory Action Research. A comprehensive review of national data and definitions of food insecurity was bench marked against KLF's program definition. A "Radar Chart" (gap analysis) of staff and Board perceptions on the effectiveness of services was developed, and Logic Models created to reflect service delivery. Students also worked a shift at a local food pantry where observational data was analyzed. Study results will be presented to Kalamazoo Loaves and Fishes staff and Board leadership for the purposes of further program evaluation and development.

"I'Ve Been There Too": Peers In Co-Occuring Services And Fidelity Over Time, Jennifer E. Harrison

Research and Creative Activities Poster Day

Integrated Dual Disorder Treatment (IDDT) is an evidence-based pracitice (EBP) for adults with co-occuring mental illness and substance use disorders, a group with poor outcomes. In Michigan, IDDT has been altered by adding peer specialists to treatment teams in some of 68 teams and 122 fidelity reviews. Results included that fidelity significantly improved over time (F(2, 120) = 1.87, p

United Way Of Southern Kentucky's Dolly Parton Imagination Library: A Program Evaluation, Simon Funge, Dana Sullivan

Social Work Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Factors Influencing The Implementation Of A Brief Alcohol Screening And Educational Intervention In Social Settings Not Specializing In Addiction Services, David A. Patterson Silver Wolf (Adelv Unegv Waya) Phd

Brown School Faculty Publications

Although alcohol use continues to be a major problem, when high-risk users enter social services, they are not provided with empirically supported treatments (ESTs). This study investigates predictors of successful implementation in agencies not specializing in addiction services. Fifty-four frontline workers in six organizations were enrolled in the study. After completing self-administered surveys of organizational culture and climate and attitudes toward ESTs, workers were trained to implement a brief intervention. The results indicate that organizational factors and attitudes may not be related to implementation. Although high implementers had similar traits, further research is needed to characterize successful EST implementers.

Social Workers In International Relief And Development: A Natural Fit, Sharon Pittman, Carman L. Sugawara, Mark E. Rodgers, Andrea Bediako

Interdisciplinary Journal of Best Practices in Global Development

This study sought to examine the compatibility between social work competencies with humanitarian assistance job skills requirements in the market. A systematic analysis of international job descriptions (N=500) was conducted with a focus on the skills required of potential employees. The main themes identified and operationalized into discrete skills and/or behaviors were: technical expertise, intra- and extra-organizational competencies, personal abilities, sector specialization, education, and language requirements. To aid educators in curriculum building, the identified skills were cross-referenced with the Council on Social Work Education’s Education Policy and Accreditation Standards practice behaviors to determine how they translate into standardized competencies. The …

Making Marriages Work: Common Factors Of Marriage Theories, Jilynn Leeuw

Honors Theses

Divorce is very common in the United States today; an alarming 40 to 50 percent of marriages end in divorce (American Psychological Association, 2015). In response to this, there are many theories and reading materials saying they can help prevent divorce or help couples obtain a successful marriage. This thesis examines five different marriage theories and the factors the authors say can help prevent a divorce or factors that lead to a successful marriage. It examines Marital Enhancement through Cognitive Self-Disclosure by Edward Waring, The Triangular Theory of Love by Robert Sternberg, John Gottman’s Gottman Method Couple Therapy, The Five …

Coercion And Motivation: Construct Analysis And Factor Association In Entering Treatment For Substance-Abuse, Arthur Tabrizi

Graduate Research Symposium (2010 - 2017)

Informed by the theoretical underpinnings of Self-determination theory (SDT), we aimed to examine relationships between motivation and independent measures of external pressure and explore whether or not a directional association exists between perceived coercion and motivation. Using the Circumstance, and Motivation subscales of the CMR and availability sampling method, we surveyed 63 clients seeking substance abuse treatment under legal coercion, social coercion, and voluntarily. Results suggest that motivation to engage in substance abuse treatment is not reliably inferred from referral source. Treatment seeking groups appear to experience greater external pressures to leave treatment than to enter treatment. Results are consistent …

The Plight Of The Lucluc: Examining The Deadly Mystery Of Nodding Syndrome, Ethan K. Mcgann

Senior Honors Theses

Nodding syndrome (NS) is an emerging epidemic neurological disease that is shrouded in mystery. It is currently only found in the post-conflict regions of South Sudan, northern Uganda, and Tanzania. NS occurs in children from the ages of five to fifteen and is characterized by a loss of motor control in the neck muscles. Seizure episodes can range in intensity from atonic to tonic-clonic, and the onset of the first episode generally marks the beginning of a decline in the child’s physical and mental health. NS is a progressive disease that generally results in physical wasting, stunted growth, behavioral difficulties, …

Help-Seeking And Help-Offering For Teen Dating Violence Among Acculturating Mexican American Adolescents, Heidi Adams Rueda, Lela Rankin Williams, Julie L. Nagoshi

Social Work Faculty Publications

Help-seeking sources, motivations, and barriers concerning teen dating violence are rarely co-examined alongside help-offering processes and messages, and both are understudied among minority youth populations. This study sought the perspectives of Mexican American adolescents (ages 15 to 17) concerning their preferences and experiences with both help-seeking and help-offering. Twenty focus groups (N = 64 adolescents) were divided by gender and by acculturation level to allow for group comparisons. Friends and supportive family members were primary sources of help, although adolescents voiced a number of barriers to help-seeking. The most prominent barrier was fear they would be told to leave …

"It Takes Time To Shift Historical Paradigms": Changes In Structure, Governance, Perception, And Practice During A Decade Of Child Welfare Policy Reform In Florida, Amy Catherine Vargo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explored changes in structure, governance, perception and practice within Florida's child welfare system over a ten-year period (2001-2011) inclusive of two concurrent, statewide reform efforts: the privatization of child welfare services and implementation of a Title IV-E Waiver Demonstration. Using an anthropological perspective and holistic approach, the child welfare system is presented as a type of meta-organizational culture inclusive of subsystems and subcultures which are all embedded in historical and socioeconomic context that involves alternations between child safety and family preservation approaches to care.

Guided by a grounded theory approach to qualitative data analysis, content analysis of child …

Clinical And Criminal Justice Outcomes In The Jail Diversion And Trauma Recovery (Jdtr) Program, Daniel Harold Ringhoff

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This mixed methods study evaluated clinical and criminal justice outcomes of the Florida Jail Diversion and Trauma Recovery (JDTR) program that utilized compensated veteran peer mentors. Quantitative results showed veteran participation in JDTR improved clinical outcomes, such as PTSD symptoms, function difficulty and depression scores, but not criminal justice outcomes such as re-arrest rates. Study limitations, however, prevent the drawing of conclusions regarding the potential effectiveness of veteran peer interventions improving criminal justice outcomes. Qualitative results showed participants overwhelmingly viewed their assigned veteran peer mentor as a "peer" and rated them as "very important" to their future success. Improvements in …