Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Importance Of Family-Centered Professional Behaviors To Parents Of Children Receiving Day Treatment Services, Cindy A. Torborg

Theses and Graduate Projects

Although many agencies and professionals identify their services as family-centered very few have evaluated their practice to determine the legitimacy of this claim. This exploratory quantitative study elicited survey responses from a random sample of 75 parents and/or guardians of children with severe emotional disturbances who have received family services through Catholic Charities Day Programs. Parents and/or guardians used the Family-Centered Behavior Scale to evaluate the professional behaviors of the family service providers, and rate the importance of these behaviors in the service process. The results indicate that the level of satisfaction with the family practitioner directly correlates with the …

Borderline Personality Disorder: Effectiveness Of The Dbt Model, Lynn Braun Larson

Theses and Graduate Projects

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) has become increasingly prevalent in the mental health field (Linehan, 1993). Approximately 1-3% of the population is diagnosed with BPD (Linehan, Oldham, & Silk, 1995). Throughout the past decade, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) has been utilized in the treatment of BPD. Six mental health practitioners were interviewed to determine the effectiveness of DBT with BPD. The research question addressed the ability of individuals with BPD to learn effective problem-solving skills in the areas relating to suicidal/self-mutilating behaviors, number of hospitalizations, interpersonal relationships, impulsiveness, and emotional instability. Some common themes discovered from the practitioners thoughts/perceptions about the …

Community Assessment: Strengths And Challenges Of American Indian Youth, Yvonne L. Barrett

Theses and Graduate Projects

This qualitative study used focus groups to conduct an assessment of capacities and needs of a large upper Midwest American Indian community's views of adolescents who have mental health issues and are violent. The study elicited feedback from 1) providers serving American Indian youth and their families and, 2) the community in general. A total of eleven individuals participated in two focus groups. The interview questions covered the areas of personal experiences with adolescents, strengths and challenges of American Indian youth, available resources and whether they meet the needs of American Indian youth. Findings reveal that the strengths of family, …

The Treatment Experience Of Women Survivors Of Sexual Abuse With Co-Occurring Issues Of Substance Abuse, Barbara E. Harschutz

Theses and Graduate Projects

The high incidence of co-occurrence of women survivors of sexual abuse with substance abuse and the historical differences between mental health and substance abuse treatment were cause for exploration of current treatment available to this population. The purpose of this study was to explore what treatment encounters have been effective for this population of women to recover. Through interviews this exploratory, qualitative study gave six women survivors of sexual abuse with substance abuse who have been involved in treatment a voice that provided needed information for treatment design and implementation. It attempted to answer what treatment services currently offered are …

Section 504 Of The Rehabilitation Act Of 1973: Are Public School Social Workers Viable Candidates As Section 504 Coordinator, Melissa J. Murphy

Theses and Graduate Projects

There has been a resurgence of the use of Section 504 in the public school system in part because of the increase in diagnosed ADHD among children. Schools need to legally provide accommodations and/or modifications to a child diagnosed with a disability which significantly inhibits one or more major life activity. Traditionally, school administrators have had the responsibility of writing and coordinating Section 504 plans. Studies have shown that many of the Minnesota Public School Districts have been out of compliance with Section 504 guidelines. School social workers' primary responsibility is to work with children in the schools that are …

An Historical & Policy Analysis Of The Patient Self-Determination Act As Part Of The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act Of 1990 (P.L. 101-508), Kristine H. Kaehn

Theses and Graduate Projects

The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-158) was the federal legislation that included the Patient Self-Determination Act, now referred to as advanced directives. This historical and policy analysis as a qualitative method of research will examine the legislative policy that was passed by congress and signed into law by the president of the United States as well as the public regulations developed by the executive branch. This law requires that patients in health care facilities receiving federal funds (Medicare and Medicaid) receive information regarding advanced directives. This research and its findings will attempt to provide the social work …

Tanf Policy Implementation: The Invisible Barrier, Roberta Rehner Iversen

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Barriers to participation in welfare-to-work programs are generally described in terms of human and social capital. Findings from case examination of four Philadelphia-areaw elfare-to-work programs under TANF suggest that theory about policy implementation is more applicable. Faulty policy logic, organizational and personnel incompetence, and inadequate coordination between and within funding, referral, program, and employer organizations regularly resulted in delayed program start-ups and strained program operations. Generally invisible and absent from research attention, these implementation delays and strains impeded program staff efforts and harmed TANF recipients. States' 24-month time limit policies are a critical target for advocacy efforts.

The Spatial Shift In The Growth Of Poverty Among Families Headed By Employed Females, 1979-89, W. Richard Goe, Anisa Rhea

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The number of working poor families in the United States increased substantially during the 1979-89 period. This increase was found to disproportionately consist of families headed by employed females. The growth in poverty among families headed by employed females during this period was found to be nonstructural in nature and inequitably distributed across labor markets in the U.S. It was found that at the onset of the 1980s, high rates of poverty among families headed by employed females were predominantly concentrated in labor market areas in the South. Over the 1980s, the highest increases in poverty rates among such families …

Why Americans Hate Welfare. Martin Gilens.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Martin Gilens, Why Americans Hate Welfare. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1999. $ 25 hardcover, $19.95 papercover.

Exploitation-The Invisible Hand Guided By A Blind Eye: Confronting A Flaw In Economic Theory, Phillip Dybicz

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Economics is alone among the social science disciplines in failing to have a sound theory to explain behaviors when people do not act according to their self-interest, that is, with compassion. This has resulted in a fundamental flaw in economic thought. As economies have grown in scale and complexity, there has been a corresponding distancing between consumers and producers. This flaw has revealed itself through a lack of economic structures which bridge this distance, restore a level of intimacy within the economic interaction, and hence facilitate the expression of compassion.

Work And Economic Outcomes After Welfare, Thomas P. Vartanian, Justine M. Mcnamara

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Using data from the 1969 to 1993 Panel Study of Income Dynamics, this article examines a number of models to determine the characteristics of AFDC recipients who fare well economically after they initially leave the welfare system. The study includes analyses of income levels, time spent employed and not employed, and time spent below the poverty line. Hypotheses regarding state welfare payments, area economic conditions, human capital and time spent receiving welfare are examined. The findings indicate that area employment conditions and the ability to quickly find work greatly affect the likelihood of faring well economically after welfare. We found …

Conflicting Bureaucracies, Conflicted Work: Dilemmas In Case Management For Homeless People With Mental Illness, Linda E. Francis

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This ethnographic study finds a case management agency torn between the rules of two conflicting bureaucracies. Funded by a federal grant, the agency is administered by the county, and the regulations of the two systems turn out to be incompatible. This conflict creates dilemmas in providing services to clients: meeting eligibility criteria for services from the federal grant meant the clients did not meet the eligibility criteria for many County services. Agency staff reacted to this dilemma by bending rules, finding loopholes, and investing extra time and emotional labor in each client. The role-conflict engendered by bureaucratic disjunction creates frustration, …

Racial And Gender Variations In The Process Shaping Earnings' Potential: The Consequences Of Poverty In Early Adulthood, C. Andri Mizell

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This research investigates the effects of poverty in early adulthood on future earnings. While social scientists are beginning to amass a considerable literature on the effects of poverty on outcomes for children, few have investigated the damage that impoverishment may do in early adulthood when individuals are in the midst of completing education and planning careers. The findings in this study indicate that poverty does dampen earnings' potential. However, individual characteristics (e.g., aspirations, esteem and ability) and structural location (e.g., educational attainment, occupational status and job tenure) may assuage the otherwise negative effects of poverty. Other findings reveal that the …

The Impact Of Education And Family Attributes On Attitudes And Responses To Unemployment Among Men And Women, Liat Kulik

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The study deals with differences between jobless Israeli women (n = 361) and men (n = 253) in relation to the following aspects of unemployment: Reasons for rejecting potential jobs, job search intensity, and responses to unemployment. The women mentioned more reasons for rejecting potential jobs, and their health-related responses to unemployment were more extreme than those of the men. However, the men tended to seekemployment more intensively than did the women.

Married respondents of both sexes showed the greatest tendency to reject potential employment due to conflict with family responsibilities. Married women were also more likely than their male …

Review Of Kids Raised By The Government. Ira M. Schwartz And Gideon Fishman. Reviewed By Sherrill Clark, University Of California, Berkeley., Sherrill Clark

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Ira M. Schwartz and Gideon Fishman, Kids Raised by the Government. Westport, CT:Praeger Publishers, 1999. $49.95 hardcover.

Do Inner-City, African-American Males Exhibit "Bad Attitudes" Toward Work?, Jill Littrell, Elizabeth Beck

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Many potential employers of inner-city African-American men believe that African-American men have poor work attitudes. The investigations reported here attempted to evaluate the veridicality of this assumption. The responses of African-American men who utilize a soup-kitchen were compared with college men on a variety of attitude measures, as well as on their reactions to a scenario about a man who worked for an unfair boss and quit in response. Generally, little support for the view that innercity, African-Americans men have a predilection to presume prejudice or unfairness, or to render a favorable evaluation of quitting under unfair conditions, was found.

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 27, No. 2 (June 2000)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• DO INNER-CITY, AFRICAN-AMERICAN MALES EXHIBIT "BAD ATTITUDES" TOWARD WORK? - Jill Littrell & Elizabeth Beck
• EXPLOITATION-THE INVISIBLE HAND GUIDED BY A BLIND EYE: CONFRONTING A FLAW IN ECONOMIC THEORY - Phillip Dybicz
• WORK AND ECONOMIC OUTCOMES AFTER WELFARE - Thomas P. Vartanian & Justine M. McNamara
• THE SPATIAL SHIFT IN THE GROWTH OF POVERTY AMONG FAMILIES HEADED BY EMPLOYED FEMALES, 1979-89 - W. Richard Goe & Anisa Rhea
• CONFLICTING BUREAUCRACIES, CONFLICTED WORK: DILEMMAS IN CASE MANAGEMENT FOR HOMELESS PEOPLE WITH MENTAL ILLNESS - Linda E. Francis
• RACIAL AND GENDER VARIATIONS IN THE PROCESS SHAPING EARNINGS' POTENTIAL: THE …

Review Of Social Security In Global Perspective. John Dixon. Reviewed By Paul Terrell, University Of California, Berkeley., Paul Terrell

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of John Dixon, Social Security in Global Perspective. Westport, Ct: Praeger Publishers, 1999. $69.50 hardcover, $27.95 papercover.

Review Of The Internet And Technology For The Human Services. Howard Karger And Joanne Levine. Reviewed By Sharon Pittman, Andrews University, Sharon Pittman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Howard Karger and Joanne Levine, The Internet and Technology for the Human Services, NewYork: Longman, 1999. $27.19 paperback.

Review Of Group Work With Overwhelmed Clients. June Gary Hopps And Elaine Pinderhughes. Reviewed By Charles Garvin, University Of Michigan., Charles Garvin

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of June Gary Hopps and Elaine Pinderhughes. Group Work with Overwhelmed Clients. New York: The Free Press, 1999. $29.95

Review Of Repackaging The Welfare State. Pranab Chatterjee. Reviewed By Larry Nackerud, University Of Georgia., Larry Nackerud

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Pranab Chatterjee, Repackaging the Welfare State. Washington, DC: NASW Press, 1999. $32.95 paperback.

So You Think I Drive A Cadillac? Karen Seccombe

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Karen Seccombe, So You Think I Drive a Cadillac? Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 1999. $27.93 papercover.

The Generational Equity Debate. John B. Williamson, Diane M. Watts-Roy And Eric R. Kingson (Eds.).

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for John B. Williamson, Diane M. Watts-Roy and Eric R. Kingson (Eds.), The Generational Equity Debate. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999. $ 49.50 hardcover, $ 25.00 papercover.

Illusions Of Prosperity: America's Working Families In An Age Of Economic Insecurity. Joel Blau.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Joel Blau, Illusions of Prosperity: America's Working Families in an Age of Economic Insecurity. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. # 30.00 hardcover.

Social Workers And Battered Women: A Study Of Professional Beliefs, Timothy Moe

Theses and Graduate Projects

This quantitative study explored the beliefs of child protection social workers in regard to battered women and domestic violence. A self-administered, mailed survey was used to gather information on some of the key beliefs that have been identified in the literature. In general, prior studies show that social workers stereotype battered women and respond to their needs in a manner that is insensitive or inappropriate.

Surveys were mailed to all 68 child protection workers in the North Central Region of Wisconsin. The region is composed of 15 counties; each county employs social workers who perform child protection duties. Forty-six surveys …

Prevalence Of Physical And Psychological Abuse In Adolescent Dating Relationships In A Suburban High School, Stacy L. Johnson

Theses and Graduate Projects

The purpose of this study is to measure the prevalence of violence in dating relationships in a suburban high school. Although dating violence is commonly considered male to female aggression, the research reviewed in this study indicates that girls are perpetrators more often than boys are. The Revised Conflict Tactics Scale was administered to tenth and twelfth grade students at a suburban high school. There were 126 surveys distributed and 12 were returned. The findings show that 84% of the students admitted to at least one violent incident with their dating partner in the past year. The results of this …

A Historical Comparison Of Treatment Between Male And Female Sex Offenders In The Correctional System, Weida Y. Allen

Theses and Graduate Projects

The purpose of the historical research study is to explore the correctional system's rehabilitation and treatment perspective for both male and female sex offenders. Treatment has been deemed essential for all offenders; while it might not mean a cure, it does give offenders some tools to prevent further offenses.

Literature emphasizes the importance of treatment and rehabilitation for the sex offender. Historically, the female offender has been ignored in the area of treatment and rehabilitation. Sexual offenses are generally perceived as a male phenomenon.

This tidy will give an in-depth view of treatment process and the research on the effectiveness …

Home Of The Shepherd: A Study Of Past Program Participants' Experience Of Organizational Values, Cynthia J. Foster

Theses and Graduate Projects

This study examined value congruency within an organization as experienced by clients as a measure of organizational effectiveness. Twenty-six females, all of whom were past program participants, were involved in the study. Study participants completed a self-administered questionnaire devised to elicit perceptions of their experience of the organization's values. Study participants had departed from the organization at least six months or longer prior to the study. Findings suggest that the values of the organization were evident in the services clients received. The clients' experience of the organizational values also had a positive effect on the clients' ability to accomplish their …

A Study Of Perceived Barriers Of Minnesota Family Investment Program Participants In Moving From Welfare To Work: An Analysis Of Three Perspectives, Patrick J. Pischke

Theses and Graduate Projects

The past decade of welfare reform emphasized moving welfare recipients from public assistance towards economic self-sufficiency through employment. This exploratory quantitative study compared perceived barriers,welfare recipients face when seeking employment through the perspectives of the welfare participants (n=265), county financial supervisors (n=74), and employment service supervisors (n=56). The study used secondary data from three rural studies conducted by the Minnesota Department of Human Services. A comparative analysis was completed using a triangulation method of the most perceived barriers to employment. A theoretical analysis which utilized the general systems theory and eco-systems perspective was also completed. The findings revealed that the …

The Experience Of Recovery From The Perspective Of Chemically Dependent Women: A Qualitative Study, Heidi Kammer Jensen

Theses and Graduate Projects

Research on the experience of chemically dependent women has evolved over the past two decades. This qualitative study contributes to the increasing research on women's issues by exploring the experience and meaning of recovery for women. An interview guide was used to conduct in-depth interviews with six women about their meanings of recovery and motivation for seeking and maintaining recovery Content analysis was used to find common themes of the recovering experience. Results of the study concluded that recovery for a women is not only sobriety, but also includes change and self-discovery. Findings displayed themes of insight and pain as …