Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The "Case Work Notebook": An Analysis Of Its Content, Leslie B. Alexander, Philip Lichtenberg

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Although the contemporary trend of the unionization of both professional and non-professional social service workers merits careful examination of both socio-structural and ideological dimensions, the following study is confined to a historical analysis of the professional, more specifically, casework interests of a group of professional social work unionists in the late 1930s, early 1940s. The method of content analysis is used to examine several major themes within a regular section, "The Case Work Notebook," of the journal, Social Work Today, which was the major theoretical organ of the social work union movement.

The Measurement Of Personal Influence In Organization And Community, Roger A. Lohmann

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Discussions of personal influence in situations in communities and organizations are ordinarily abstract and theoretical. In this paper, a practical method for the measurement of influence in interactional terms is developed. The approach combines the use of Likert scales, sociometric techniques and a simplified version of "blockmodeling" using mathematical matrices. The method is outlined using a hypothetical social service agency with a seven-member staff.

Receiving Help: Management Strategies Of The Handicapped, Nancy A. Brooks

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The social act of helping is presented from the recipient's viewpoint. Interview material from handicapped adults and contributions from the literature on helping provide insight to the helped person's management and interpretation of being helped. Techniques employed in the management of help are described. Alternative strategies and interpretations are available to the helped person; receiving help is not necessarily demeaning as social norms suggest. The interaction between helper and helped person is the central concern.

Parity, Family Size Preference And The "Value Stretch", Virginia Aldige Hiday, Steven Polgar

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

A two-wave survey of women in their reproductive years living in poverty areas of New York City is used to investigate family size preferences among the poor. The hypotheses that parity affects family size preference and that current parity affects future parity are supported. Implications for future trends in family size preference and for family planning programs are discussed.

The Guns Or Butter Issue: Trends In American Public Opinion, 1935-1976, Darrel Montero

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper examines the responses to national opinion surveys taken between 1935 and 1976 on questions related to the federal government's role in providing social welfare programs and recent survey findings on defense spending. The paper's major findings are that: 1) in general, the public supports the basic concept of providing aid to the needy through the government but shows less consistent support when specific spending proposals are mentioned: and 2) as theshareof the federal budget allocated for defense spending has been decreasing, polls have shown an increasing proportion of the public expressing support for greater delcense spending. The paper …

The Evaluation Of A Title Xx Training Grant In Child Care Treatment, GilbéRt Louis PeñA

Dissertations and Theses

The focus of this paper is two-fold. First to evaluate a course in child care, treatment, and, second, while doing so, to trace the evolution of child care as a profession. The course being evaluated here was not an isolated event. It was a small part of a national movement to upgrade child care and the child care worker. This is a young, upcoming profession in its developmental stages. Consequently, many of the issues and training methods presented here will be improved and become more sophisticated by the time this paper is printed.

At the same time there is a …

Placement Of The Borderline/Narcissistic Personality On A Continuum Of Mental Health, Terry Carrilio

Bryn Mawr College Dissertations and Theses

This research attempted to clarify and test a theory of the borderline/ narcissistic personality. This particular personality type has recently received a great deal of attention by practitioners. A literature review was done to identify major points in the theory, and a formulation geared towards the needs of social work practitioners was developed.

A rating scheme cujodying the theoretical formulation was applied. There were thirty-six out-patient subjects from three clinics and three private therapists. One to four taped sessions per subject were rated by independent judges based on the rating scheme developed out of theory. Independent diagnosticians placed subjects in …

Personal Growth And Societal Functioning, Richard H. Dana

Regional Research Institute for Human Services

This article explores personal growth in relation to societal functioning. Definitions of growth from multiple sources are given and several implications are explored. Finally a list of points of focus is provided.

Political Activities Of Professional Social Workers Residing In Portland, Oregon, Connie May Henes

Dissertations and Theses

In order to assess political activity levels of Portland social workers, thirty Master of Social Work (M.S.W.) social workers were interviewed according to a structured questionnaire. The members of the sample were selected from National Association of Social Workers, Oregon Chapter membership and from selected public social service agencies.

The results showed, in comparison to previous research findings of Lester Milbrath and Julian Woodward, that Portland social workers are more politically active and knowledgeable than hypothesized. Portland social workers were found to be largely Democrats. The most politically active social workers were found to be those who are employed in …

Medical Social Workers' Attitudes Toward Death And Related Matters, Lon M. Stratton

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study to examine the attitudes of several (MSW) medical social workers, currently employed in hospital settings, regarding: (1) death and dying issues, (2) education and training received related to working with the terminally ill patient, (3) specific practice issues which relate to the terminal patient, and, lastly, (4) the effectiveness of each social worker's place of employment in meeting the needs of the terminally ill patient and providing for adequate training of staff in this sensitive area.

Description And Analysis Of The Public Guardian And Conservator Program In Multnomah County, Oregon, Dianne Wyers

Dissertations and Theses

The law and the public programs designed to implement the intent of the law should serve as a model for the way in which needs are met in our society. With this view in mind, a study of the Public Guardian and Conservator program has been undertaken.

This study is the first written description of a young program designed to offer unique services to legally incapacitated persons. Public guardianship and conservatorship evolved from an early notion that a guarantee of rights is a public as well as a private responsibility. The question of the extent of public responsibility required as …

Washington County Mental Health Program Year End Report For Fiscal Year 1976-1977, Jennifer Dee Pockel

Dissertations and Theses

Program evaluation is in its infancy at the Washington County Mental Health Program; it is only within the last two years that there has been any emphasis placed on evaluation activities. The first chapter in this practicum will identify and provide a context for the recent introduction of the management by objectives approach to process evaluation within the Washington County Mental Health Program as well as present a rationale for such an approach; the second chapter in this practicum is a presentation of results obtained from the first follow-up study to employ management objectives as an evaluation tool; the third …

Issues For Professionals Working With Cerebral Palsied Individuals, Joan Marquis, Beth Thompson, Wendy Girdlestone

Dissertations and Theses

This practicum is the result of our participation with a grant of national significance from the Developmental Disabilities Office. The project's inquiry is to describe the aging and aged developmentally disabled and to develop professional curricula based upon the findings.

There are three major objectives for the grant: 1) to conduct a comprehensive survey of the aging and the aged population, 2) to develop curricula for the training of health-care professional and 3) to consult at the supervisory level with national, state and community agencies. The developmentally disabled population studied by the grant includes cerebral palsied individuals over twenty-one years …

A Study Of Partner Attitudes Related To Male Involvement In Contraception At Planned Parenthood, Portland, Oregon, Patricia Long Burnet, Rhonda Lee Jack, Kathleen Margaret Leeson

Dissertations and Theses

In spite of the relative ease of accessibility to reliable contraception, unplanned pregnancy continues to be a major social problem for both society and for those individuals personally involved. The growing furor over adolescent unplanned pregnancy has not only led to arguments over abortions on legal, financial, and moral levels but has resulted in studies pertaining to non-use of birth control among all ages. Contraceptives are not being used as widely and effectively as they could be.

The primary goal of this research is to explore the male's role (or lack of it) in family planning. A further goal is …

Menopause, Middle Age, And The Social Worker, Bonnie C. Vatter

Dissertations and Theses

The central thesis of this paper is that the social work profession needs to know much more about menopause and its concomitants in order to enhance diagnosis and treatment. Unfortunately, the woeful lack of research and consequent paucity of data on the subject require a heavy reliance upon intuitively plausible statements in support of larger propositions about many of the strategic relationships advanced in the course of the argument. When these propositions and statements are taken as a whole, the paper is also an outline of essential research topics.

Social Work With Minority Clients : An Attitudinal Survey, Twila Jeanne Souers

Dissertations and Theses

The study is a survey of attitudes among social work practitioners and educators, both ethnic minority and and non-minority, regarding social work with minority clients. Chapter II presents a statement of the problem and the purpose of the study. Chapter III is a review of pertinent literature. Chapter IV discusses the design and methodology for the research project. Chapter V discusses the findings and limitations of the study, and Chapter VI provides a summary and further recommendations for research and practice.

The Resilience Of The Child As A Factor In Successful Adjustment To Permanent Placement, Lani Maureen Mcdonald

Dissertations and Theses

This study explores the hypothesis that constitutional factors were significant in mediating their successful adjustment. The adjustment of children who in the past would have been viewed as permanently scarred and unable to adjust has provided researchers with an idiosyncratic situation that has also been found in other studies: children have adjusted despite odds against it and children considered to have incurred minimal trauma have had difficulty adjusting.

"Fallen Angels": An Historical Review Of Program Development And Clientele Of The Salvation Army White Shield Home With An Emphasis On The Years 1940-1976, Wendy Jo Ballard

Dissertations and Theses

The following paper is a study of the history of the Salvation Army White Shield Home of Portland, Oregon with emphasis on the years 1940 through 1976. The White Shield Home is a residential program which provides comprehensive services to school-age parents. A complete description of the setting and the services offered is found in Chapter II. "School-age parents" is the current term used to refer to unmarried pregnant women and women with infants in an effort to eliminate the stigma attached to "unwed mother" or "pregnant teenager".

The purpose of the study is threefold: 1) to familiarize the reader …

A Study Of The Incidence Of Divorce, Religious Conflict, And Need And Potential Utilization Of Marital/Family Services Among Seventh-Day Adventist Couples In The North Pacific Union Conference, Fern M. Ringering

Dissertations and Theses

The following study is designed to look at one religious group and assess some of the social service needs as seen by the study participants.

Since social services cover such a broad spectrum, it was decided to limit the study to marital counseling needs and related issues as seen by individual church members.

Program Evaluation: A Model For Evaluating Group Homes For The Developmentally Disabled, Michael J. Maley

Dissertations and Theses

The movement to increase the number of group home programs for the mentally retarded/developmentally disabled is present in the state of Oregon. The Boundary Street group home, located in Portland, was established as a result of this movement. As a rather typical group home program, it is subject to many of the program concerns and evaluation needs experienced by similar services. This point represents the ultimate reason for this paper. The primary purpose will be to develop a program evaluation system that will be appropriate and beneficial in meeting the evaluation needs of the Boundary Street group home. Because the …

Indications Of Feminist Influence On Contemporary Social Work Practice, Clara Elizabeth Miller

Dissertations and Theses

It is criticism of traditional theory and methods, and the advocacy of new approaches that feminists have tried to present to social workers and to other professionals in mental health and other social services. The feminist goal has been to convince social workers and others to modify their beliefs and practice in order to be more helpful (as the feminists believe) to women. In this study of the beliefs and practice of social workers in Oregon, I attempt to find out to what extent, ten years after the "rebirth of feminism," they have adopted feminist beliefs and recommendations for practice.

Human Services Aa Degree Programs, Ken Price

Dissertations and Theses

There are two major purposes of this study. One purpose is to provide faculty, administrators, and advisory committees of the Human Services program at Clackamas Community College (CCC) with information for use in recruitment and curriculum planning. The other purpose is to fulfill practicum credit requirements of the Master of Social Work program at Portland State University.

The four chapters of this practicum cover background information about Associate of Arts (AA) programs and CCC, the review of the literature, the empirical research, and implications of the study for the CCC Human Services Department.

Parental Perceptions Of Behavioral Changes In Children Following Divorce, Kenneth W. Bork

Dissertations and Theses

This research was undertaken primarily to describe the parental perceptions of the effects of divorce upon the children age eighteen or younger of the first married couples filing for divorce in Clackamas County, Oregon during 1975.

Outcome Evaluation Of Medical Care Utilizing Goal Attainment Scaling, Bonnie G. Little

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose for this study was to develop guidelines for the implementation of Goal Attainment Sealing (a mental health measurement technique) in the medical care setting. As a graduate student of social work, I have become involved in the delivery of medical care and am interested in the dynamics of psycho-social variables as they affect the structure, delivery, and outcome of medical services.

Alternative Living Situation For Indian Youth, Colleen Lynn Langer Yost, Lloyd Blackstone Pinkham

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis includes a proposed program that is designed to provide alternatives for Indian youth, allow for the creation of a residential treatment facility for the diagnosis, placement, and treatment of Indian juvenile delinquents, establish reporting and operating procedures with various courts, and help reduce the delinquent behavior of the resident youth.

Native American Social Work Symposium : An Evaluation, Lou Stone

Dissertations and Theses

The inconsistencies of the state and federal policy toward Native populations and additionally those inconsistencies within the two governments themselves, require the maintenance of Indian and Alaskan Native organizations with sophisticated mechanisms developed to advocate “reforms” in Indian services to meet unique Indian needs.

Indian and Alaskan Native social workers invariably find themselves at the confluence of client service provision and surviving the extension of policies available to them from resource allocators for the purpose of service provision. In order to approach this dilemma, the Native American Social Work Symposium, held in May of 1977, convened on the basis of …

A Manual For Emergency Room Social Workers, Jack West

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this manual is to fill the void I encountered when I first began doing emergency room social work. After reading a mass of material on crisis theory, depression, suicide, psychiatric emergencies, etc., after having role played an emergency room crisis counselor, and after reviewing what seemed an infinite number of required hospital procedures, I began work as an emergency room social worker. The first few cases I encountered on my own were bewildering. When emergency room personnel would refer a patient to me with the prefatory remark: "This guy looks like he has real emotional problems. See …

An Evaluation Of Hew Grant 426, A Training Program For Foster Parents Of Handicapped Foster Children, William Mckee Thome

Dissertations and Theses

In 1969, the "President's Committee on Mental Retardation" issued a challenge to all those involved in the care and treatment of the mentally retarded, to integrate institutionalized children into "... normal community living... and enable them to develop their ability and potential to the fullest extent."¹ In addition to this mandate the federal government became increasingly aggressive in its campaign to make available to all handicapped children the same rights and privileges as "normal children". One of the major thrusts of this campaign today is to encourage local communities to commit themselves to fulfilling the needs of the handicapped …

The Relationship Between Social Isolation And Child Abuse: A Critical Literature Review, Ann A. Pederson

Dissertations and Theses

This review began with an interest in treatment of child abuse and in how a study of social isolation might lend direction to treatment of abusing families. The literature leads one to believe that social isolation is somehow involved, but that the process is far from clear. The intent of this review is to synthesize the findings available on the relationship between social isolation and child abuse, to encourage further thought on how the concept of social isolation can be refined and operationalized, and to discuss the implications of that relationship for treatment and prevention of physical abuse. The information …

The Measurement Of Personal Influence In Organization And Community, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Discussions of personal influence in organizations and communities are ordinarily abstract and theoretical.In this paper, a practical method for the measurement of influence in interactional terms. The approach combines the use of Likert scales, sociometry and a simplified version of block modeling using matrices. The approach is illustrated with a hypothetical human service agency with a staff of seven professionals.