Social Work Commons^™

The Role Of Social Support In The Mitigation Of Social Worker Burnout During The Aftermath Of Hurricane Maria, Miguel Angel Soto

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Social workers are among the first responders to be activated during a natural disaster, and they remain aiding victims through the final stages of the recovery process. During the aftermath of natural disasters, social workers are required to work under extreme pressure and are at an increased risk of developing mental health issues that can affect their ability to provide adequate services. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore the experiences of social workers who responded to Hurricane Maria regarding the role of social support and its relation to burnout. A purposive selection methodology was applied to …

Perceptions Of Students In A Public Child Welfare Certification Program Following A Mock Testimony Intervention, Monica Hines

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Those in the fields of child welfare and social work often face hard work with few rewards. Child welfare workers are faced with the difficult and demanding challenge of working diligently to ensure the safety and well-being of children. This study aimed to examine the perceptions of child welfare participants enrolled in a child welfare program following a mock testimony intervention through a one-group pretest-posttest design.

The participants in this study were full-time undergraduate (n= 5) and post-graduate (n = 2) students with ages ranging from 19 to 25 years old. All participants attended a mid-sized university located in the …

Coping With Stress In Caregiving Among Korean Immigrant Parents Of A Child With Adhd, Jinhee Koo

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Parents of children with ADHD were found to struggle with additional demands in caregiving. Immigrant populations reported acculturative stress as they encountered immigration stressors, including language barriers, cultural differences, lack of social support, discrimination, and so forth. Belonging to both social groups, Korean immigrant parents of children with ADHD are likely to face numerous stressors and undergo a great deal of stress. Nevertheless, little has been known about how they experience stress and coping. It is important to identify their experiences because the knowledge can be used to support their well-being and quality of life. To fill this gap, this …

“I Felt From That Place”: A Qualitative Case Study Of Emerging Practices To Build Youth Peer Supports In Residential Care, Catherine S. Kramer

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Background and Purpose: Effectively responding to children and youth who experienced trauma and enter the foster care system is an ongoing challenge in child welfare. In response to the poor outcomes for children and youth in foster care, and the growing understanding of the effects of complex trauma, the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) was enacted in 2018 by Congress to overhaul the child welfare system. Among many required changes, states were required to establish guidance and processes for residential agencies to become qualified residential treatment programs (QRTPs) consistent with federal guidelines, which prioritized becoming trauma informed.

The Complexities Of Adverse Childhood Experiences: A Study Of Health, Behavioral Health, And Quality Of Life Among Women With And Without Disabilities, Anne-Marie Gomes

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Background and Purpose: The negative effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on behavioral and physical health and well-being long after exposure are a global and national concern. For over two decades, ACEs have been associated with numerous medical conditions, health risk behaviors, and poor mental and physical health outcomes. However, few studies have examined the effects of ACEs on the health outcomes of persons with disabilities (PWDs). The main objective of this study was to examine the impact of ACEs on women with and without disabilities, their health and well-being.

Understanding Attitudes Among Professionals Who Interact With Youth Who Exhibit Problematic Sexual Behavior, Erin Gardner

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Problematic sexual behaviors (PSB) among youth have been a prominent public health and social concern. Although these behaviors have previously been considered to comprise a “curiosity” or an “experimentation”, PSB is now recognized as causing harm and suffering for victims and family members while also having a considerable economic influence in medical, behavioral health, social services, and criminal justice systems. Much research has examined how perceptions and attitudes impact our behaviors towards PSB among adults, but none examines how perceptions and attitudes impact our behaviors towards youth. Knowing there are several gaps in literature, the current study was conducted to …

Substance Use & Systems Impact: A Mixed-Methods Community-Based Participatory Action Study, Jordan Dyett

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Individuals, families, and communities who use drugs or have a history of substance use have been highly criminalized, stigmatized, and their perspectives marginalized in research and policy. Furthermore, trajectories of research on this community tend to focus on pathologizing individuals and focus on prevention or abstinence-based outcomes, failing to embrace a broader critique of societal forces that marginalize communities and contribute to substance use. Despite the increase in deaths due to drug toxicity, policy and practice at large have failed to embrace the expertise of those with lived experience using substances, and instead continued to rely on carceral logics to …

Reflection And Connection: Trauma-Informed Yoga And Its Aid In Trauma Healing In Female Identifying College Students, Gabrielle V. Sandoval

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Traumatic experiences affect female identifying folks at an unequal rate compared to other populations. Trauma-informed yoga (TIY) has become a popular intervention for treatment of symptoms related to trauma. By utilizing tenets such as meditation, intentional movement, and trauma-informed language and positioning, this practice focuses on the mind-body-connection to establish feelings of safety. Although trauma education and interventions are becoming commonly implemented on college campuses, there is a gap in implementation and empirical studies evaluating such campus programs. To explore how TIY could aid this population, a four-week yoga intervention was created. Four participants engaged in a weekly TIY class …

Understanding The Perspectives And Attitudes Of 12-Step Participants Towards Medication-Assisted Treatment, Christopher Scott

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Background: The effects of living with a substance use disorder (SUD) are vast. Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) has grown increasingly popular as a recovery tool among substance users but does not align with the popular 12-step model, which demands complete abstinence from narcotics and mind-altering substances. Objective: The primary aim of this phenomenology study was to explore the perspectives and attitudes towards MAT among 12-step participants. The secondary aim was to compare the responses of treatment and non-treatment professionals. Methods: This study used non-probability sampling methods to recruit participants who reported regular participation in a 12-step program. Semi-structured …

Allowing Latinx Students’ Voices To Be Heard, Sofie Jamieson

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

There are too many Latinx students falling behind academically, and coming to First Tee helped improve their academic performance. The First Tee of Monterey is a local non-profit organization that was established in 1997 and is based in Salinas, California primarily serving students who come from low-income backgrounds. The agency strives to support Latinx students who are fourth, fifth, and sixth grade who have a language barrier, not enough tutoring support, and not enough parent and teacher involvement. This increases the likelihood of dropout rates, mental health issues, and unemployment. Implementing an evaluation that the students can take part in …

Sexual Exploitation: The Crisis And Eradicative Solution, Tonnie Adams Bracey

Nonprofit and NGO Studies Student Projects

French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr wrote, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” I find this to be true in our current era of the digital age. Although technology has gifted a newly improved and vast method of making worldwide connections and broadening our perceptions and views, a change in how we communicate has conveniently presented itself, but the historic pattern of how we handle these new advancements have indeed stayed the same.
Smart phones are a mainstream vessel employing the world with a plethora of information while giving all sorts of people access to individual’s lives …

Primary Care Employees' Knowledge And Self Efficacy About Human Trafficking, Mollie Zehmer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Human trafficking is a worldwide issue that is detrimental to individuals, families, and communities. However, it is a hidden issue, and without proper training, it goes unnoticed. Many primary care employees do not know much about trafficking or how to identify trafficked persons, but with proper training they could potentially help clients that are trafficked persons. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to determine if human trafficking training would increase primary care employees’ knowledge and self-efficacy about human trafficking. The training included topics such as general knowledge, risk factors, identifiers, and the role of healthcare employees. Participants in the …

Reaping What We Sow: The Implications And Outcomes Of Mississippi House Bill 1125, The “Regulate Experimental Adolescent Procedures (Reap)” Act, Kerigan Brewer

Honors Theses

Mississippi House Bill 1125 (MS HB1125), also known as the “Regulate Experimental Adolescent Procedures (REAP) Act,” was signed into law by Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves in early 2023 (REAP Act, 2023). It is one of multiple policies passed into law that limit the rights of transgender people. This thesis aims to clarify the history of the trans community, dispel myths around gender-affirming health care and the trans identity, and discuss the current state of anti-trans laws and transgender rights. Using a policy analysis framework by DiNitto (2011), MS HB1125 is analyzed on points like its social and economic costs, the …

Lived Experiences, Migration Journey, Religiosity, And Spirituality Depicted In Drawings By Latino Children And Youth Crossing The U.S. Mexican Border: A Qualitative Study., Doroty Magalhaes Sato

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Widespread violence forces thousands of Central American children to endure a hazardous journey toward the U.S. Border seeking refuge. In the Latino community, faith serves as a social movement of resistance against oppression, playing a vital role in migration. There is a paucity of research documenting this experience and children's overall journey. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the lived experience of crossing international borders, religiosity, and spirituality depicted in Latino children's drawings used as coping methods to endure the journey toward the U.S. southern border. This investigation employed Art-based approaches to give voices to children's experiences by analyzing 63 …

Understanding The Multidimensional Ramifications Of Education Censorship To Promote Justice-Oriented School Social Work., Brandon D. Mitchell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since 2020, recensions on youth rights and education censorship have been backed by a network of actors and organizations on the political Right, evidenced by race and diversity curricula bans, book bans, and inflammatory media discourse. The scope and prevalence of education censorship are understudied with little known about the policies enacted, and influences of media discourse, school boards, and the effects on schools and the school social worker. The purpose of this dissertation is to explore and understand the scope and prevalence of education censorship, including policies, media discourse, school boards, and schools. To achieve the aims of this …

Interprofessional Education In Healthcare Related Social Work: A Systematic Review, Devon Vitti

Social Work Doctoral Dissertations

The demand and need for social workers to enter the healthcare field continues to grow in the United States, particularly in integrated care settings working with other healthcare professionals. Social workers bring a unique perspective to the table, particularly when it comes to understanding and addressing intricate health issues like social determinants of health and social inequalities impacting individuals. However, they face numerous obstacles that hinder their ability to function optimally. These challenges begin during their undergraduate and graduate education, where there is a disparity among social work schools regarding the implementation of Interprofessional Education (IPE). This is partly due …

Exploring The Effects Of Mindful Nature Walks On College Student Anxiety, Grace Young

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Individuals pursuing a degree in higher education face challenges that lead to greater levels of anxiety than that of the general U.S. adult population. This disparity, further heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic, presents a need for higher education institutions to search for ways to address this spike in student anxiety and other mental health concerns. This mixed-methods study explored mindful nature walks as a low-cost and easily accessible way for college students to reduce levels of experienced anxiety. Using validated quantitative measures, this study examined the impact of three weekly, consecutive 30-minute mindful nature walks on state and general anxiety …

Navigating Transitions: Utilizing Autoethnographic Writing Prompts To Support Nontraditional College Students, Brijet Lynn Beazer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the transition nontraditional students undergo as they embark on their college journey and the unique challenges they face. Leveraging autoethnographic writing prompts as an intervention strategy, the project employed a participatory approach over virtual platforms to capture the tapestry of experiences and connect participants to form a supportive community. Participants included older individuals with work experience, some who experienced parenthood, or those returning after an extended break. Through crafted prompts, individuals shared their academic journey, balancing work, and family responsibilities. The reflections gathered provide valuable data, offering insights into the challenges and triumphs of nontraditional students. The …

Community Benefits Awareness Presentations, Marlene Ramirez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Socioeconomic disadvantage significantly impacts educational outcomes, with 81% of Monterey County Office of Education (MCOE) Alternative Education program students facing economic hardships. Serving youth in grades 9-12 and adults in Monterey County, including those within the county jail and juvenile facilities, the MCOE Alternative Education program strives to facilitate high school diploma attainment. This project sought to bridge the knowledge gap surrounding the Medi-Cal, CalFresh, and CalWORKs benefit programs through presentations shared within the MCOE community and partner agencies. A partnership between MCOE and the Monterey County Department of Social Services (MCDSS) was established to further this goal. The anticipated …

The Importance Of An Operations Manual, Richard Schlotthauer

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Without having an operations manual programs are susceptible to misinformation between one another. Partners for Peace is a program that is dedicated to serving Monterey County, and its troubled youth as well as their parents/guardians. Creating an operations manual will help to ensure that all staff members are on the same page when it comes to day to day issues around the office. Every staff member now has a copy of the operations manual, this will ensure that all members of the team will be on the same page when issues arise in and out of the office. In order …