Social Work Commons^™

The Argument For Moving Away From Residential Placement For Most Juvenile Offenders, Marika Dawkins

Contemporary Issues in Juvenile Justice

No abstract provided.

Aggregate Correlates Of Status Offender Case Outcomes Across Counties, David A. Bowers, S.E. Costanza

Contemporary Issues in Juvenile Justice

No abstract provided.

Community-Wide Awareness Of Juvenile Justice Best-Practices And Ctc In Texas, Samuel Arungwa

Contemporary Issues in Juvenile Justice

No abstract provided.

A Digital Environment Approach: Four Technologies That Will Disrupt Social Work Practice., Lauri Goldkind, Lea Wolf

Social Service Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Narratives Of Illness, Difference, And Personhood, John P. Mctighe

School of Social Work Faculty Publications

Using narrative theory, the chapter examines how ideas and attitudes about mental disorder are shaped by cultural values and stereotypes, and how the experience of trauma can shatter the narrative of self and world. Placing the question of illness, differentness, and personhood within a social justice perspective, it challenges clinicians to consider how the vocabulary of illness is used to frame experience and, in many cases, to minimize, marginalize, or discount the individual's own lived experience.

Factors Influencing Job Satisfaction Among Child Welfare Staff, Meresa L. Stacy

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Child welfare has been part of American society since the early 1900s and continues to play a pivotal role in response to troubled families. Although there is a need for qualified child welfare staff, the process of maintaining staff is a constant struggle for many child welfare agencies. Many states are experiencing high turnover rates within the child welfare system, and Florida has been acutely impacted. Researchers have demonstrated that the nature of the work, supervision, and other organizational factors continue to contribute to job satisfaction among child welfare professionals. Guided by the social exchange theory as the theoretical framework, …

Shared Trauma And Resiliency Among Military Mental Health Veterans: A Heuristic Inquiry, Tashina Miller

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

With the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan lasting over a decade, hundreds of military mental health providers have deployed to hostile environments and some on multiple occasions. Military mental healthcare providers can experience symptoms of acute and chronic stress resulting from exposures to horrific events while caring for soldiers in a deployed environment. Indeed, in treating these soldiers, clinicians may continue to experience the same traumatic events as their clients. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand and describe shared trauma and resilience for military mental health professionals who have deployed. The concept of shared trauma was defined …

Factors That Contribute To The Knowledge, Health Beliefs, Attitudes, And Behaviors Regarding Sickle Cell Disease Among College Students, Marcella Williams-Smith

Social Work Dissertations - Archive

SCD and Thalassemia are considered the two major Hemoglobin Disorders, and have recently been declared a global health problem by the World Health Organization (WHO). Despite SCD being a global health issue, the United States (US) still focuses on treatment and management of the disease rather than prevention. The overall purpose of this study was to assess the factors that contribute to knowledge, health beliefs, and attitudes about SCD, and screening behaviors among college students to provide pertinent information for SCD prevention. A non-experimental, cross-sectional research design using a convenience sample of college students was used for this study. Descriptive …

Predictors Of Timing In Hospice Utilization: The Role Of Family In The Decision For Hospice Care, Cara Lynn Wallace

Social Work Dissertations - Archive

Patients and families coping with a terminal illness are faced with a number of decisions over the course of their disease. The decision to continue further treatment versus utilization of a palliative approach, such as hospice, is often one of the most difficult and complex. There are many barriers to hospice care, causing the service to be underutilized. Family is a significant force in patients' choice for palliative care and patients place greater importance on communications related to end-of-life care with their family than with health care professionals. However, dying remains a taboo conversation, a key barrier to end-of-life care. …

The Adoption Of Restorative Justice As A State Policy Response To Criminal Justice Concerns: A Mixed Methods Inquiry, Shannon Marie Sliva

Social Work Dissertations - Archive

Over the past two decades, 32 states have enacted legislation supporting the use of restorative justice as crime response. The purpose of this study is to explore the contexts in which restorative justice has been adopted as a policy solution for juveniles and adults by answering the following questions: (1) Are internal characteristics of American states correlated with the adoption of restorative justice legislation between 1988 and 2014? (2) How have social, economic, political, or other factors promoted or impeded the adoption of restorative justice legislation in key states? This study uses a convergent-parallel mixed-methods approach to develop an empirically …

Urbanization Versus Sanitation: Exploring The Effectiveness Of Social Indicators On Reducing The Infant Mortality Rate In Developing Countries, Leslie M. Andringa

Social Work Theses - Archive

Despite numerous health gains around the globe, reducing infant mortality continues to be a central Millennium Development Goal. Low- and middle-income countries continue to transition epidemiologically, prompting international investments and a transferring of ideas, technology, and influences into developing nations’ systems. In this systematic way, along with capital and social aid, the translation of knowledge and values are passed. As globalization persists in an ever-changing world, and urbanization efforts receive more assistance funding than sanitation improvements, this paper aims to explore which is the most effective approach for reducing the infant mortality rate (IMR) in developing countries. Indicators from a …

Cyber Abuse And College Students: New Risk Factors In Intimate Partner Violence, S. Elizabeth Wick

Social Work Theses - Archive

Intimate partner violence has far-ranging consequences that affect every aspect of society. While much research has been done to examine the risk factors and demographics for physical violence, realization is growing that psychological and emotional violence may also cause significant harm to its victims. New technologies such as cell phones and computers have enabled perpetrators to intimidate, isolate, and stalk their victims in new and damaging ways. Certain populations such as college students are thought to be at particular risk for the effects of this type of intimate partner violence for several reasons, including their high risk for physical violence …

Adhd And Hearing Loss: A Study Examing The Co-Occurrence Of The Two Disorders, Jennifer Amanda Sibley

Social Work Theses - Archive

This paper will present information obtained from a nationwide dataset on the incidence of co-occurring Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and hearing loss. These disorders are frequently studied separately, but there is a lack of research on the co-occurrence of the disorders. A secondary data analysis was conducted in order to answer four primary research questions: 1) What are the demographic characteristics of children who have co-occurring HL and ADHD? 2) Is the incidence of ADHD co-occurring with HL higher than the expected incidence of ADHD for this population based on general U.S. prevalence? 3) Among those with past or current …

Identity Reconstruction As Shiduers: Narratives From Chinese Older Adults Who Lost Their Only Child, Yongqiang Zheng, Thomas Lawson

Faculty Publications - College of Social Work

The purpose of this qualitative study was to illustrate how the identity of Chinese older adults who lost their only child changed after the traumatic event in the context of unique culture and policy settings. The individuals studied were 14 adults over the age of 50. Each respondent was interviewed concerning his or her post-loss experiences. Results indicated that these bereaved parents are not only deeply impacted by the loss of the most loved one, but are also stigmatized by the culture and victimized by the one-child policy. The collective identity as shiduer is defined not only by personal grief …

Technology And Social Work Practice: Micro, Mezzo, And Macro Applications, Jonathan B. Singer, Melanie Sage

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

No abstract provided.

Bella Abzug, Queer Rights, And Disrupting The Status Quo, Trevor G. Gates, Margery C. Saunders

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

Workers who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ)-identified have always been a part of the workplace in the United States, yet there has been a lack of awareness about how to advocate for the needs of these people. This lack of awareness was challenged by Congresswoman Bella Abzug. Abzug’s campaign for creating an equal working environment for sexual minorities initiated gradual changes in the public discourse concerning workplace and other broad equality measures for these communities. To frame these gradual transformations within a historical context, we use Lewin’s force field analysis framework to examine the change efforts of …

The Relationship Between Episodes Of Dissociative Amnesia, Symptomology Of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, And Childhood Sexual Abuse, Jennifer E. Perkins

Dissertations

Problem. Identifying the possibility of a significant relationship between childhood sexual abuse, symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and episodes of dissociative amnesia is both relevant and useful in the therapeutic setting. Identifying indicative factors for a history of childhood sexual abuse and including them in a standardized therapeutic assessment will assist therapists in planning future treatment. This study used secondary data to examine the relationship between childhood sexual abuse, symptomology of PTSD, episodes of dissociative amnesia, and selected demographic characteristics.

Method. This quantitative study used a therapist-completed data collection tool which compiled brief client demographics, episodes of dissociative amnesia, …

Comparing The Clinical Approaches Of Christian Social Workers And Secular Social Workers, Kristin Larsen

Dissertations

This mixed methods research study explores the current interface of religion and social work in clinical practice. A total of 91 National Association of Social Workers, Illinois Chapter members and 120 North American Association of Christians in Social Work members responded to clinical vignettes via an online survey. Subsequently, a small group of Christian social workers and a small group of Secular social workers convened for focus group discussion. This study found that the approaches of Christian social workers and secular social workers were not fundamentally different; however, there was some evidence of significant differences between the groups and their …

Everybody Matters: A Mixed-Methods Analysis Of Support Services Available To Survivors Of Human Trafficking In Central Kentucky, Arika Morgan Bow

Online Theses and Dissertations

This research is designed to identify service and capacity gaps that exist and need to be addressed in Central Kentucky to improve the provision of social services for survivors of human trafficking. Relying upon in-depth interviews with individuals from different organizations/agencies (e.g., social service providers, federal and local law enforcement agencies, human trafficking task forces) in Central Kentucky that work on human trafficking and with survivors, this research provides a comprehensive picture of the social services available to survivors of human trafficking, including the need for additional services. This research offers an analysis of the capacity gaps that exist, making …

The Prevalence Rate Of Underage Drinking Among School-Age Adolescents Receiving Social Work Intervention In A Community Mental Health Research Health Setting, Karen Abonza

Social Work Theses - Archive

Adolescents participate in underage drinking across the United States, causing significant consequences to themselves, others, communities, and the state. Underage drinking is one of the nation's leading causes of deaths in American adolescents. The current study examines the prevalence rate of underage drinking among a clinical population. The hypothesis is that peers (peer groups and peer influence) may contribute to underage drinking greater than the impact of families encouraging alcohol. An epidemiological case record review of 100 participants from the years 2012 to 2014 was conducted at the University of Texas at Arlington's Center for Clinical Social Work (CCSW) using …