Social Work Commons^™

Vocational Readiness: The Effect Of Pre-Prison And Incarceration-Based Trauma On Cognitive Appraisals And Self-Perceptions Of Incarcerated Women, Joi Dykes Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

The number of women incarcerated in the United States has grown at an alarming rate. This research study presents a conceptual framework for examining pre-prison and incarceration-based trauma and its effects on cognitive appraisals and self-perceptions. Literature from psychology, feminist psychology and neuropsychiatry are integrated to discuss how pre-prison trauma creates pathways to crime for females, how incarceration serves as a form of traumatization (or retraumatization), how the social dynamics of the prison environment potentially exacerbates mental health issues (i.e., PTSD, anxiety, depression), how this negatively affects a female inmates vocational readiness—the ability to obtain and maintain employment once engaged …

Parent To Parent Support For Parents Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders: Perspectives Of Parents And Program Staff, Nina Nelson

Theses and Dissertations

This short-term longitudinal qualitative study used grounded theory methods to explore how parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) benefit from one-to-one support (P2P), factors affecting success, and how these relationships evolved. In-depth interviews were conducted with 6 staff, 12 referred parents, and 11 support parents.

Most referred parents found P2P helpful, deriving informational/practical, emotional, and a few social benefits. Six interrelated factors affected success including a) parent-support relationship; b) program level; c) support parents’ experiences with P2P and the disability community; d) practical/logistical factors; e) psycho-emotional factors; and f) referred parents’ expectations relationship program level. The relationship was …

Leaning Out: Exploring Organizational Advocacy Activities From An Open Systems Perspective, Lauri Goldkind

Social Service Faculty Publications

his article explores the effect of organizational culture on engagement with advocacy activities, both traditional and electronic. The Competing Values Framework offers a model for understanding how organization's culture influences behavior. Using a sample of nonprofit providers from across the country, the author hypothesized that organizations that use electronic advocacy tools are more involved with advocacy activities of all types. A paper and pencil survey was used to collect data on organizational culture, advocacy tools and techniques, perceived effectiveness of the advocacy tools, policy goals, organizational sustainability goals as well as barriers and facilitators of electronic advocacy. The study used …

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

Social Service Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Exploring Dimensions Of Well-Being Among Spouses Of Active-Duty Service Members, Lisa A. Gray

Theses and Dissertations

During an era when the United States has been engaged in the longest waging wars in U.S. history, military families have been exposed to extraordinary amounts of stress and have had to learn to adapt in a culture where repeated deployments, recurrent family separations, and frequent relocations have become the norm. A surge in research in recent years on the families of Service members has brought increased attention to the unique challenges and demands of spouses, raising concerns about how to best meet their needs. Despite the increased attention, few studies have focused on spousal well-being. Acknowledging this lack of …

Improving Depression Care For Older Home Health Patients, Sarah R. Schirmer

DNP Projects

Rates of depression in older home healthcare (HH) patients are highly prevalent. Although depression in this population is associated with increased rates of re-hospitalization, falls, and suicides, it is frequently under diagnosed and under treated. This Capstone Report examined this problem through three interrelated manuscripts. The first manuscript explored the problem through a review of the literature. This review determined that while there are many barriers to adequate depression care, programs that train clinicians to screen for depression and connect patients to depression care encourage adequate evaluation and treatment and can result in clinically significant changes in depression scores. This …

The Interaction Effects Of Subjective And Structural Factors On Crime Among Formerly Incarcerated Males, Christopher Alvin Veeh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The high rate of recidivism in the over 600,000 individuals who return from incarceration each year is an important social problem facing U.S. society and the criminal justice system. Efforts undertaken so far early in the 21st century to address the problem of recidivism in the formerly incarcerated, particularly prison reentry programs, have produced disappointing results at reducing the rate of recidivism. Therefore, there is a need to identify new ways for prison reentry programs to reduce recidivism among individuals recently returned from prison, and social work with its person-in-environment perspective can make an important contribution through conducting research to …

Journal Of Sociology And Social Welfare Vol. 42 No. 1 (March 2015)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Table of Contents

• SUCCESSFUL APPROACHES TO ENDING FEMALE GENITAL CUTTING - Kay Young McChesney
• THE 47 PERCENT: U.S. TRENDS IN INCOME MAINTENANCE AND MEDICAID SPENDING, 1990-2011- Elgin Mannion and Gordon C. Chang
• UNDERSTANDING FRINGE ECONOMIC BEHAVIOR: A BOURDIEUSIAN-INFORMED META-ETHNOGRAPHY - Peter A. Kindle and Mary A. Caplan
• TACTICAL DECISION-MAKING: COMMUNITY ORGANIZERS DESCRIBE ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN SOCIAL ACTION CAMPAIGNS - Donna Hardina, Mathew Ari Jendian, and Catherine Garoupa White
• RELIEVING HUMAN SUFFERING: COMPASSION IN SOCIAL POLICY - Mary Elizabeth Collins, Sarah Garlington, and Kate Cooney
• SELF-EMPLOYMENT AND PUBLIC EMERGENCY WORK IN URBAN LABOR MARKETS DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION: THE CASE OF …

Tactical Decision-Making: Community Organizers Describe Ethical Considerations In Social Action Campaigns, Donna Hardina, Matthew A. Jendian, Catherine G. White

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Social work curriculum on social action-oriented organizing methods is often devoid of content on the day-to-day role of the organizer in recruiting diverse participants, facilitating group decision-making, and planning and implementing campaigns. Little attention is paid to how tactical decisions are made and how the ethical implications of these decisions are weighed. In this study, professional organizers were interviewed about how they viewed their work, their relationships with their constituents, and the values and ethical principles used to make tactical decisions.

Self-Employment And Public Emergency Work In Urban Labor Markets During The Great Depression: The Case Of Industrial Cities, Robert Boyd

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Self-employment and public emergency work were frequent reactions to the economic dislocations of the Great Depression. Census data for men show that in urban-industrial centers, self-employment reduced the demand for public emergency work by absorbing displaced workers into the entrepreneurial sector. Census data for women reveal that, in these centers, self-employment and public emergency work coexisted due to mutually beneficial relations between women who were self-employed and those women who worked on government projects. The results suggest that, contrary to popular theoretical and ideological views, there is no inherent conflict between private- and public-sector responses to stagnant labor markets.

The 47 Percent: U.S. Trends In Income Maintenance And Medicaid Spending, 1990-2011, Elgin Mannion, Gordon C. Chang

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

We analyze trends and variations in state-level expenditure growth for Medicaid, SSI, SNAP, and TANF. We explore three areas of interest: (1) How program structure impacts growth; (2) How programs responded to the 2008/2009 recession; and (3) How state preference for limited government, measured by Right- To-Work (RTW) status and political affiliation, impacts program expenditure growth. Findings show that program structure impacts expenditure growth: the state-matched programs like TANF and Medicaid grew slower from 1990-2011 than did open-ended federal programs like SNAP. OLS models found states with RTW policies and large Hispanic populations positively associated with higher income maintenance and …

Review Of Inequality In The Promised Land: Race, Resources, And Suburban Schooling. R. L'Heureux Lewis-Mccoy. Reviewed By Paul L. Tractenberg, Paul Tractenberg

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

R. L’Heureux Lewis-McCoy, Inequality in the Promised Land: Race, Resources, and Suburban Schooling. (2014). Stanford University Press. $24.95 (hardcover), 232 pages.

Review Of Human Rights And Adolescence. Jacqueline Bhabha, Ed. Reviewed By David Tobis, David Tobis

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Jacqueline Bhabha, Ed., Human Rights and Adolescence. University of Pennsylvania Press (2014), 376 pages, $69.95 (hardcover).

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 42, No. 4 (December 2015)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Table of Contents

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR: EMPIRICISM. - Robert D. Leighninger, Jr.

IS COMMUNITY-BASED WORK COMPATIBLE WITH DATA COLLECTION? - John W. Murphy, Berkeley A. Franz, and Karen A. Callaghan

IMPACT OF COMMUNITY INVESTMENT IN SAFETY NET SERVICES ON TRAJECTORIES OF UNSHELTERED HOMELESSNESS AMONG VETERANS - Ann Elizabeth Montgomery, Jamison D. Fargo, and Thomas H. Byrne

EBB AND FLOW: A MULTIPLE STREAMS POLICY ANALYSIS OF CHANGE IN KANSAS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE POLICY - Emily Bell-Sepulveda, Juliana Carlson, and Sara Rust-Martin

CAN PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS ACQUIRE FINANCIAL ASSETS? - Allison De Marco, Molly De Marco, Alexandra Biggers, Maggie West, Jonathan Young, …

Separation, Visitation And Reunification: Michigan Child Welfare Reform And Its Implications For Siblings, Angela M. Moe, Jessica A. Church

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Removal of children from abusive or neglectful families is an unfortunate but necessary aspect of child protective services, and the separation of siblings can be especially traumatic. This paper examines the Dwayne B. v. Snyder Modified Settlement Agreement (MSA), the result of a class action lawsuit regarding the management of the child welfare foster care system by the Michigan Department of Human Services. The MSA contains several mandates regarding the handling of siblings, though various measures of compliance remain unmet. Through field observations and interviews within the Michigan foster care system, we identify several factors prohibiting effective sibling care.

Review Of Social Security Works! Why Social Security Isn't Going Broke & How Expanding It Will Help Us All. Nancy J. Altman & Eric R. Kingson. 135 Reviewed By Helen Lachs Ginsburg, Helen Lachs Ginsburg

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Nancy J. Altman & Eric R. Kingson, Social Security Works! Why Social Security Isn't Going Broke & How Expanding It Will Help Us All. New Press (2015), 320 pages, $16.95 (paperback).

A National Scan Of Psychiatric Involuntary Hold Policies, Evan D. Peters

UROP Posters

Psychiatric involuntary holds are initiated when an individual suffering from mental illness is deemed a danger to themselves or others. Each state and the District of Columbia has its own legislation outlining the process for involuntary holds and the assessments that take place during a hold. A variety of individuals, professional and non-professional, can be involved in the process. Each state also sets a time limit during which a person can be held, and specific language that details the behavior of individuals that are eligible for psychiatric involuntary holds. This information was gathered by examining each states' codes involving psychiatric …

Borderline Personality Disorder: The Frequency Of Disclosure And The Choice To Disclose, Laci Marie Rumpza

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The goals of this study were threefold: (1) to identify what percentage of psychologists and clinical social workers disclose the diagnostic label BPD to their patients, (2) to identify factors that influence disclosure, and (3) to gather data about the choice to disclose or not to disclose. The MUM effect was used as the theoretical framework. A sequential explanatory mixed methods design including an online survey was used during the first phase. A total of 125 psychologists and 45 social workers participated in the Phase 1 of the study. The majority of participants stated that they either always or usually …

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 …

Stigma Towards Hiv Positive People In The El Paso Community, Evdokia Romanova

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Stigma and discrimination towards individuals living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a serious issue. The stigma experienced by people with HIV relates to how the virus has been primary associated with so-called deviant behaviors (e.g. promiscuity and homosexuality). Stigma may isolate infected individuals from society and create barriers when accessing medical care and seeking social support. Conducted in El Paso, Texas, this study aims to better understand the issue of stigma through the life stories of individuals living with HIV and to test an exploratory model of a community-based intervention for fighting self-stigma. This research project is divided into …