2009 Ph.D. GRADUATES
Drs. Randall, Granruth, Bartley and Scott
Family Instability, Social Support and Working Alliance with a Case Manager as Predictors of Exits from Homelessness Among the Mentally Ill
Ellen T. Bartley
Homelessness is experienced principally by those individuals with mental illness, poverty, substance abuse and physical and mental disabilities. Attachment theory may provide clues to the causes and cures of homelessness. The internal working model of attachment, formed via the relationship with the primary caretaker during early childhood, is associated with an individual’s perception of social support, the ability to access social support and the development of a therapeutic relationship. Thus positive working alliance with a secure base may serve to mitigate the detrimental effects of other attachment relationships shaped by family instability. The purpose of this study was to test a conceptual model based on attachment theory that was hypothesized to explain the effects of specific factors related to exiting homelessness among the study population. A secondary analysis was performed on data from the Access to Community Care and Effective Services and Supports (ACCESS). The original study of over 7,000 individuals who were chronically homeless and mentally ill covered service delivery, integration of systems, and clinical and individual factors related to work with persons who were homeless and mentally ill. A multivariate logistic regression tested three hypotheses: 1) Controlling for age, gender, and research group assignment, it is expected that family instability, perception of social support, and working alliance will be significant predictors of exits from homelessness at both 3 and 12-month interviews; 2) Family instability at intake will be the strongest predictor of exits from homelessness at the 3-month follow up interview in the program with lower scores of instability associated with higher rates of exits from homelessness; 3) Working alliance will be the strongest predictor at 12-months. Family instability was not found to be a statistically significant predictor at either point in time. However perceived social support and working alliance were significant predictors at 12 months. The model was also statistically significant. Understanding the predictors for successful long-term housing among that population will assist social workers in developing clinical models of treatment that will effectively engage, treat and end homelessness of mentally ill persons.
Resilience in Undocumented, Unaccompanied Children:
Perceptions of the Past and Future Outlook
Stephanie Hapeman Scott
As immigration continues to be a topic of debate in the United States, there is been very little discussion regarding the growing number of undocumented, unaccompanied immigrant children in the U.S. Guided by the Challenge Model proposed by Garmezy, et al (1994), this study sought to shed light on the factors that influence resiliency in these children.
The research utilized an ex-post facto correlational design to study the protective factors (social bonding, personal competence and social competence) used by the 118 children from Central American countries, girls and boys, ages 14-17, detained in Federal custody at the time of data collection, who participated. The Individual Protective Factor Index (Cronbach Alpha .77) measured both protective and risk factors. Protective factors were in the moderate range with personal competence, the strongest. Similarly, risk factors (including those stemming from family environment, peer group, the neighborhood environment, and personal risk behaviors) were generally moderate; and, as predicted, there were a number of significant relationships between protective and risk factors, as per the resilience challenge model. Negative attitudes toward alcohol and other drugs emerged as the strongest predictor of each protective factor. Significant differences in protective factors emerged based on their perceptions of selected life experiences in the home country, on the journey, and their goals for the future.
In view of the resilience of the children manifest in these data, practice and policy recommendations focus on the use of a strengths-based approach based on best practice standards in child welfare. Recommendations for further research are also provided.
A Comparative Study of the Effectiveness of a Peer-led
and Adult-led HIV/AIDS Education Among Adolescents
in Lesotho
Njoki M. Randall
Proliferation of HIV/AIDS among the youth globally and particularly in sub-Saharan Africa continues to be fueled by ignorance thereby attracting the attention of the social work researchers and professionals in the area of HIV/AIDS prevention education. Social learning theory focuses on learning approaches that can impart knowledge and attitude change through instruction and imitational modeling. From this theory’s vantage point, a Peer-led HIV/AIDS education training traditionally by an individual who belongs to the age, grade and status as the student participant, while Adult-Led training is facilitated by a formally trained health professional. The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of Peer-led versus Adult-led school based HIV/AIDS education approaches. The primary data utilized in this study was collected in Mafeteng district in Lesotho. This study comprised 180 youth participants attending two rural high schools. This quasi-experimental study comprised a multivariate hypothesis: 1) Controlling for age, gender, grade, school, and students who participate in a Peer-led education training group will have higher knowledge of HIV/AIDS and demonstrate more pro-abstinent attitude toward sexual behavior than students in Adult-Led group.
Analysis of covariance revealed that the type of training (Peer-Led versus Adult-Led) revealed a borderline and statistically significant effect. Peer-Led education had a slightly higher mean score of knowledge of HIV/AIDS at post-test than students in Adult-Led training. The effect size was, however, small. In addition to the educational training effect, student gender had a significant interactive effect with school onto student knowledge of HIV/AIDS. This study shows that both boys and girls improved their knowledge but their knowledge gain was conditional on the school. Type of training had no differential effect on self-efficacy. Gender and age had significant effects on the posttest self-efficacy. The boys were more pro-abstinence than the girls were while the younger age group of students was slightly more pro-abstinence than the older students.
The Impact of the Level of State Tax Code Progressivity on Selected Children’s Educational, Health and Poverty Outcomes
Laura Brierton Granruth
The nexus between the level of state tax code progressivity and the well-being of state residents has not been well explored. This research study examines the impact of the level of state tax code progressivity on selected children’s educational, health and poverty outcomes using a Keynesian theoretical framework. The changing political framework that devolved an increasing number of social policies and programs to the state level during the past quarter century has affected state governments and has threatened the fiscal capacity of states to raise adequate revenue. In light of increasing state funding responsibilities, it is imperative to understand state tax policy and its capacity to perform adequately and fairly in meeting state residents needs, and in particular, the needs of their most vulnerable residents, including children.
The study utilizes a research design based on a secondary data analysis of archival data and created a new data set with the state as the unit of analysis. The data set was created through the combination of multiple publicly available data sources. The research project explores the primary question of “Do states with more progressive tax codes have better educational, health and poverty outcomes for children than states with more regressive tax codes?” through one major hypothesis: Controlling for state characteristics, the greater the level of the state tax code progressivity the better the educational, health and poverty outcomes achieved by children residing in those states.
The findings show that the level of state tax code progressivity is a factor in the well being of children. Multiple regression analyses found that the level of state tax code progressivity is a predictor for state child and infant mortality rates. Significant interactions also were found for fourth and eighth grade academic proficiency by level of state tax code progressivity and state population size, and for child mortality rate by level of state tax code progressivity and median household income. The findings suggest that tax policy is an important component of social welfare policy and should receive greater attention from the social work profession.
Last Revised 19-May-09 02:50 PM.
