Social Work

This book provides an overview of issues and techniques relevant to the development of cross-cultural measures and provides a step-by-step approach to the assessment of cross-cultural equivalence of measurement properties. The readers are introduced to an overview of the definitions of culture and a brief discussion of cross-cultural anthropology, psychology, sociology, and political science and the influences of these fields on social work. The book describes the process of cross-cultural instrument development, from formulating the research aims to the assessments of cross-cultural measurement properties. There are guides and recommendations for building a cross-cultural research support team for various critical tasks. The book addresses the issues of adopting and adapting existing research instruments. The processes and issues of cross-cultural translation and assessments are presented and discussed in detail. The book offers a discussion of the foundation of measurement theories and the entire process of instrument development from the definitions of abstract concepts, the construction of observed indicators, and assessment of the validity and reliability of the new instruments. The book demonstrates the application of item distribution analysis, internal consistency analysis, and exploratory factor analysis as a preliminary assessment of cross-cultural equivalence of research instruments. In addition, the book explains and illustrates the application of confirmatory factor analysis and multisample confirmatory factor analysis to evaluate the factor structure and testing of cross-cultural measurement invariance.

This book is intended to be read at any stage in the dissertation process, but will be particularly useful in the early stages of preparation for a social work dissertation, and as a reference resource throughout. The book is a guide to successful dissertation completion. Content includes a brief history and overview of social work doctoral education in the United States, the importance of values in social work, and the relationship between personal, research, and social work values. Chapter 2 addresses issues in selecting and working with the dissertation supervisor and committee, as well as the role and tasks of all three parties in successful completion of the dissertation. In Chapter 3 strategies for researching, and evaluating the literature, as well as writing the literature review are discussed. In addition, the relevance of theory to social work research is examined. Chapter 4 describes ethical issues in social research and requirements for the protection of human subjects. In addition, an overview of both quantitative and qualitative research methods is provided. In Chapter 5 sample design and sample size are discussed in relation to both quantitative and qualitative research. The significance of the psychometric properties of measurement instruments is also discussed. Chapter 6 addresses issues in data collection, data management, and data analysis in qualitative and quantitative research. Finally Chapter 7 presents strategies for dissertation writing including structure and content, as well as data presentation.

Doctoral education in social work is said to be “in crisis.” The number of programs has grown more than the number of graduates, and there appears to be a shortage of doctoral graduates for faculty positions in social work education. Based in part on findings from a national survey of doctoral students in social work, this volume discusses the purposes of doctoral education in a practice profession as well as past and current controversies about what they should be. Survey findings about student demographics and reasons for seeking the doctoral degree are discussed in comparison with national data from social work and other fields. What students like and don’t like about various aspects of their programs, including the dissertation experience and their preparation for the job market for PhDs, is described and compared to other fields. Although some doctoral students in social work receive substantial financial aid, many are still entirely self-funded. Finally, data suggest that doctoral students in social work are publishing and making conference presentations, but some would like more formal preparation for these job-relevant tasks, including preparation for teaching. Overall, the resources in social work doctoral programs, including student aid, are quite variable. In addition, because the social science model dominates, questions are raised about preparing “stewards of the discipline” or “stewards of the profession” and related practices. A variety of recommendations are made that would enhance the profession’s ability to create “communities of scholars” to prepare the next generation of intellectual leadership.

School social work enters its 2nd century as a profession still conflicted about its central mission. Are school social workers meant to be “in-house” clinicians providing services to kids in need, or are they meant to be involved in program development to enhance the social and emotional learning of all students in a school? How much time should they devote to serving whole families, or consulting with teachers? Whatever school social workers claim to do in their schools, it’s clear that they are going to have to prove that they are effective doing it. The demands of federal legislation and state requirements for certification are making it increasingly necessary that school social workers demonstrate that they are highly qualified school-based mental health and social service professionals who can demonstrate outcomes that impact school “bottom line” issues like student achievement, attendance, and behavior. Rather than recoil from this pressure, school social workers can utilize the skills of evidence based practice (EBP) to help them enhance both their effectiveness and their knowledge of interventions that work to help students, teachers, parents, and staff in school contexts. This book demonstrates how EBP can be integrated into school social worker’s daily practice, advancing the debate about where social workers can and should intervene, and how to do so effectively. Highlighting primary clinical issues, family problems, and school-wide needs faced by school social workers, helps practitioners make the best use of evidence to be flexible, effective advocates at all levels of practice.

The purpose of this book is to examine the opportunities for, and limitations to, empowerment among adults with severe mental illness who, historically, have lacked power and have been the focus of stigma and discrimination. Its central premise is that despite significant limitations to empowerment, people with severe mental illness can be empowered when certain conditions are met. Building on the work of Joel F. Handler, nine conditions are outlined under which empowerment is likely to occur and be sustained long-term. These conditions are then applied to determine the circumstances under which people with severe mental illness can be empowered through participation in each of seven activities. These including treatment planning; the selection and control of housing; decision making in the organizations from which services are received; planning and policy making; securing and maintaining employment that produces a liveable wage; research and evaluation; and service provision to other people with mental illness. Case studies from a public psychiatric hospital and a community mental health agency illustrate each of the seven areas. Finally, the book identifies the roles that service providers, administrators, policy makers, advocacy groups, researchers, and clients can play in the empowerment process.

There are three essential differences between this book and most others in the field of ethics. First, instead of focusing on specific issues, it focuses on the process of ethical decision-making. Second, instead of writing for a specific profession, it is written for all mental health professionals working in elementary and secondary schools. Finally, most other books on ethics assume that they are writing for the individual ethical agent, it argues that the best ethical decisions are made in collaboration with others. The books examines a seven-step process for resolving difficult ethical dilemmas in schools: (i) knowing yourself and your professional responsibilities, (ii) analyzing the predicament, (iii) seeking consultation, (iv) identifying courses of action, (v) managing clinical concerns, (vi) implementing the decision, and (vii) reflecting on the process. Each chapter contains real-life scenarios based on real practice or actual cases in the public domain, ethical guidelines for addressing key points, exercises, and relevant internet sites.

Evidence-based practice in school mental health explains the nuts and bolts of infusing research throughout school-based practice following guidelines set forth by the US Department of Education. In clear, step-by-step detail, it provides the conceptual tools needed to locate, evaluate, and apply evidence in order to demonstrate positive outcomes for students. With its case examples and exercises, this book offers a pragmatic approach to informing practice decisions with appropriate research to ensure that students receive the best service. The chapters amount to an easy-to-follow road map to evidence-based practice (EBP), explaining how to ask the right questions; search for evidence; appraise the literature while avoiding the pitfalls of web-based information; adapt and apply evidence in a developmentally and culturally sensitive way; and evaluate the results. Detailed examples from practice and adaptable sample spreadsheets to evaluate students' progress make the goal of accountability attainable for school professionals who otherwise would struggle to find the time, resources, and support to utilize research in their work.

Most Americans are insulated from the poor; it is hard to imagine the challenges of poverty, the daily fears of crime and victimization, the frustration of not being able to provide for a child. Instead, we are often exposed to the rhetoric and hyperbole about the excesses of the American welfare system. These messages color our perception of the welfare problem in the United States and they close the American mind to a full understanding of the complexity of family poverty. But who are these poor families? What do we know about how they arrived in such desperate straits? Is poverty their fate for a lifetime or for only a brief period? Faces of Poverty answers these questions as it dispels the misconceptions and myths about welfare and the welfare population that have clouded the true picture of poverty in America. Over the course of a year, the author spent numerous hours as a participant-observer with five women and their families, documenting their daily activities, thoughts, and fears as they managed the strains of poverty. We meet Ana, Sandy, Rebecca, Darlene, and Cora, all of whom, at some point, have turned to welfare for support. Each represents a wider segment of the welfare population, ranging from Ana (who lost a business, injured her back, and temporarily lost her job, all in a short period of time) to Cora (who was raised in poverty, spent ten years in an abusive relationship, and now struggles to raise six children in a drug-infested neighborhood). As the author documents these women's experiences, she also debunks many of the myths about welfare: she reveals that welfare is not generous (welfare families remain below the poverty line, even with government assistance); that the majority of women on welfare are not long-term welfare dependents; that welfare does not run in families; that “welfare mothers” do not keep having children in order to increase their payments (women on welfare have, on average, two children); and that almost half of all women on welfare turned to it after a divorce. At a time when welfare has become a hotly debated political issue, Faces of Poverty gives us the facts. The debate surrounding welfare will continue as each of the 50 states struggles to reform their welfare programs, and this debate will turn on the public's perception of the welfare population. The author offers insight into each of the reforms under consideration, and starkly demonstrates their implications for poor women and children. She provides a window into these women's lives, portraying their hopes and fears, and their struggle to live with dignity.

Familicide involves the killing of a current or former spouse or partner and one or more of their children, followed, in many cases, by the suicide of the perpetrator. These killings are limited to the modern era and seem to be on the rise in late modern times, deeply disturbing the communities in which they occur. Familicidal Hearts explores the emotional styles of 196 male and 15 female perpetrators of this shocking offence, situating their emotional styles on a continuum with livid coercive killers at one end and civil reputable murderers at the other. The analysis identifies the pivotal roles of socially situated emotions such as shame, rage, fear, anxiety, and depression in the lives of perpetrators and in particular the way perpetrators mismanage these emotions, fail to acknowledge or recognize them, and mask them. The author identifies modern era figurations of feeling and familial atmospheres of feeling as being conducive to the rise of familicide. In particular, most perpetrators see themselves as failing to live up to the demands of modern era gender expectations, as fathers, lovers, and, much more rarely, as wives or mothers. In spite of the plethora of case details used, the author contends that at some level, familicides are inexplicable and reflect the haunting effects of modern emotional formations that defy scientific analysis.