PhD Dissertations - DO NOT EDIThttp://hdl.handle.net/10106/94962024-03-26T19:30:39Z2024-03-26T19:30:39Z“WALK THE WALK”: A NARRATIVE INQUIRY OF SOCIAL WORK EDUCATORS’ PARTICIPATION IN SOCIAL MOVEMENTS FOR RACIAL JUSTICEhttp://hdl.handle.net/10106/317292023-11-09T22:49:58Z2023-08-11T00:00:00Z“WALK THE WALK”: A NARRATIVE INQUIRY OF SOCIAL WORK EDUCATORS’ PARTICIPATION IN SOCIAL MOVEMENTS FOR RACIAL JUSTICE
The profession of social work has a long-standing history of social movement contribution, including in recent times. The May 2020 murder of George Floyd was an international flashpoint for global protests demanding racial justice, including within the US criminal justice system. Using Narrative Inquiry, the present study explored the stories of social work educators’ participation in current social movements for racial justice. Results from this study indicate that contemporary social work educators value a variety of social movement contributions, including protesting, community organizing, and incorporation of anti-racism in social work education. The participants of this study highlighted the importance of embarking on a personal journey toward anti-racism praxis including transparent critical-self-reflection, continued community engagement, and constant learning. Implications from this study include the incorporation of social action, utilization of anti-racist pedagogy, and disruption of systems that perpetuate oppression.
2023-08-11T00:00:00ZCROSSOVER YOUTH PREVENTION: PREDICTORS OF YOUTH CROSSOVER FROM CHILD WELFARE TO JUVENILE JUSTICEhttp://hdl.handle.net/10106/316992023-12-11T21:14:51ZCROSSOVER YOUTH PREVENTION: PREDICTORS OF YOUTH CROSSOVER FROM CHILD WELFARE TO JUVENILE JUSTICE
By some estimates, as many as 60% of youth in the juvenile justice system have previous experience in the child welfare system, with delinquency rates among youth in foster care about 50% higher than among youth not involved in foster care (Ryan & Testa, 2005; Sickmund & Puzzanchera, 2014). Identifying factors that impact crossing over from the child protective system into the juvenile justice system is essential to developing interventions targeting youth success and derailing the criminal pathway of many United States adolescents. Decades of research have shown that youth who enter foster care are at an increased risk for future involvement in the juvenile justice system (Barth, 1990; Dannerbeck-Janku & Jahui, 2010; English et al., 2002; Lee & Villagrana, 2015; Ryan, 2012). Despite this, most research has focused on what to do with foster youth once they are in the juvenile justice system, rather than how to identify them before they become involved in the juvenile justice system (Herz & Ryan, 2008). Furthermore, most studies occur at the local or state level as reflected in the literature review below. This dissertation, however, will combine two national data sets to help identify youth most at risk to cross from the foster care system to the juvenile justice system.
EXPLORING THE PREDICTORS OF WELL-BEING AND ADVANCE DIRECTIVES AMONG ELDER ORPHANS: A MIXED METHODS STUDYhttp://hdl.handle.net/10106/316642023-11-09T23:02:41Z2018-08-20T00:00:00ZEXPLORING THE PREDICTORS OF WELL-BEING AND ADVANCE DIRECTIVES AMONG ELDER ORPHANS: A MIXED METHODS STUDY
Elder orphan is a term popularized by the media to describe the more than 22% of community-dwelling US adults aging alone with limited social support, social isolation, multiple chronic health issues, and childlessness. Elder orphans who have not initiated advance directives are at risk of becoming unbefriended, having no able or willing family or friends to make medical decisions during acute injury or medical crisis. The purpose of this explanatory sequential mixed-methods study was to understand the determinants of well-being and advance care planning. A cross-sectional analysis of members (n = 368) of an online Facebook group of elder orphans was conducted followed by an interpretative phenomenological analysis of in-depth interviews with (n = 6) volunteer participants.
Hierarchical regression revealed income, adverse childhood experiences, discrimination, social network, and multiple health issues were found to be significant predictors of well-being among elder orphans, whereas mid-life events were not significant predictors of well-being among elder orphans. Contradictory to prediction, higher levels of well-being increased the likelihood of having advance directives while perceived risk of incapacitation had no influence on the likelihood of having advance directives. The qualitative follow-up interpretative phenomenological analysis revealed four sub-ordinate themes: (1) the road to elder orphanhood: making meaning of the past; (2) a sudden halt: caregiving experiences and consequences; (3) connecting and trying to connect; and (4) barriers and future concerns. This study represents a unique and valuable examination of an under-studied group of older adults, who are often unidentified by health care professionals.
2018-08-20T00:00:00ZPredictors of Different Types of Victim-Trafficker Relationships: An Intersectionality-Informed Analysishttp://hdl.handle.net/10106/316482023-12-12T16:41:45ZPredictors of Different Types of Victim-Trafficker Relationships: An Intersectionality-Informed Analysis
Domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST) is the commercial sexual exploitation of a minor citizen or legal resident within United States borders. The literature about the experiences of DMST victims is an amalgamation of force, exploitation, and sometimes the exercise of personal, if constrained, agency in the decision to exchange sex for money or goods. Unfortunately, federal and local policies do not make much room for the nuances of victim experience, in which multiple oppressive factors may contribute to DMST victimization, or different types of DMST victimization. Instead, officials tend to view DMST as a monolithic crime, rather than a problem that appears driven by victims’ variable experiences with systemic poverty, racism, and family dysfunction. The purpose of this study is to explore how various forms of oppression and risk predict domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST) victimization, particularly within specific subcategories of DMST, such as trafficking by a family member, stranger, friend, or romantic partner.
This study utilizes the secondary case files of 242 domestic minors who were trafficked for sex in one state in Texas between 2012 and 2017. The case files were transferred to the Principal Investigator for coding following data de-identification. After establishing inter-rater reliability, the Principal Investigator coded the case files for the presence of intersectionality-informed variables, such as race, child welfare involvement, juvenile justice involvement, poverty, and more. Keeping with intersectionality theory, the Principal Investigator then employed statistical procedures, such as chi squares, logistic regressions, and path analyses, to explore the multiplicative nature of risk factors in their prediction of different types of victim-trafficker relationships. The results of logistic regression analyses demonstrate that various risk factors interact differently to predict different types of victim-trafficker relationships.
The results of this intersectionality-informed study suggest that DMST victimization is not a monolithic phenomenon, in which all victims share the same experiences of oppression and powerlessness. There appears to be variations between the forms of oppression and risk experienced by victims prior to entering specific victim-trafficker relationship dynamics. Social workers need to articulate these variations to the range of professionals who work within the systems that may prevent, identify, and remediate DMST, such as political systems, criminal justice systems, and victim aftercare systems. This study concludes with specific recommendations for counter-trafficking social workers engaged in education, practice, theory-building, and policy formation.