In recent year’s child sexual exploitation has received significant attention in the UK politically, publically, and in the media. In particular, high profile cases involving groups of men and adolescent girls have resulted in criticism directed towards safeguarding services. Of specific concern is whether sexually exploited young people have been safeguarded, as they should have been. If they have not been, is this because safeguarding professionals understand young people to be ‘making a choice’ to be in sexually exploitative situations and therefore they are ‘left to it’. Thus, this doctoral research considers how social workers understand CSE, with a focus on the social workers’ understandings of sexually exploited girls as choice-makers and agents. Eighteen social workers, from three local authorities, within one region in England were interviewed. The interviewees work in all areas of safeguarding. To further elicit the social workers’ understandings of sexually exploited girls, the interviewees’ understandings of girls sexually abused in the home were also explored. How girls' choice-making and agency are understood and responded to, depending on where, and by whom they have been abused/exploited, is explored. The methodology is qualitative and adopts a social constructionist, feminist approach utilising thematic analysis. The social workers understand that CSE happens to a certain ‘type’ of girl: one who is likely to be socially and economically deprived; that is why the social workers understand she is vulnerable to CSE. The interviewees have complex understandings regarding who is to blame for CSE and the lack of overt blame placed on the perpetrators, alongside significant culpability placed on the girls, is striking. Moreover, the confluence of choice-making and blame within the interviewees’ epistemological framework concerning CSE and sexually exploited girls is of specific note. The social workers ‘wrestle’ with their understandings of sexually exploited girls as choice-makers, this is because they associate choice with blame and this leaves them conflicted. The way in which they resolve this conflict is to invalidate certain choices that girls make which they understand ‘result’ in her being exploited, in order not to blame her. The research concludes that social workers need to separate out choice-making from blame and recognise that sexually exploited girls make choices, within a context but that they should never be blamed for making those choices. Furthermore, their agency needs to be encouraged and enabled in positive directions and blame should always and unequivocally be placed on the perpetrators.

The dissertation explores lived experiences of practice educators, to capture their impressions of recent social work reforms affecting the assessment of social work students. A three-stage research study was conducted, aiming to gain the views of practice educators before, and then during the early stages of implementation, followed by a review of the data gathered involving social work professionals, to incorporate peer feedback, cross reference data and add research rigour. The rationale for the three-staged approach was to understand how participants perceived their changing role, explore personal and professional motivators for assessing students and identify ways of strengthening the available infrastructure of support. The strength based methodology, Appreciative Inquiry, was selected to shape the three stages of the study, seeking to draw out peak experiences as a catalyst for managing change. Data collection started with four small group interviews, progressing six months later to the completion of twelve individual interviews, culminating in sharing research findings with social work professionals six months hence, to validate emerging data about how practice educators could be better supported. By reframing the challenges expressed by participants, such as limited support, role marginalisation and low extrinsic reward, research findings have captured aspirations for increased support to sustain the climate of change and uncertainty for practice education. Solutions emerging from findings include strengthening local and national drivers to raise the profile of practice education, building research capacity, streamlining regional channels of support for individual, peer and group support and championing the practice educator role by raising awareness through inter-agency training and building more robust local partnerships.

The point at which individuals acquire impairments can be a challenging one, for instance people may encounter shifts in financial circumstances, a need to find information, support and services while negotiating with physical changes and for some the ‘stigma’ of disability. The study adopts an individualised diary method combined with semi-structured interviews to collate in depth qualitative data, organised and presented using participants’ voices to chart the experiences and challenges encountered in relation to finding appropriate help at this time. A critical realist perspective is applied to identify what factors affect the participants’ successes and limitations in getting needs met in relation to recently acquired impairments. The data collection method ensures that this material presents the people involved holistically and looks beyond simple representations of disability and identity. It explores how perceptions of identity shift and how participants negotiate these changes over time. The model of the ‘Process of Disillusionment’ is developed as a key finding and consideration given as to how individuals can break free of such a process. Recommendations are then made as to ways in which this cycle of frustration may be resolved both on a collective and individual basis.

This thesis reports on the first study into the role of self-conscious emotions, namely pride, shame, guilt, humiliation, and embarrassment, in social work practice. Employing a qualitative case study research design, involving the safeguarding service of one local authority, ethnographic constructionist grounded theory methods were used to develop a conceptual understanding of these emotional experiences in the practice of the social workers involved. Integrating data from 246.5 hours of observations, 99 diary entries, 33 assessments written by the social workers, 19 interviews, and 329 pages of documents relating to the organisation, this study analyses the context for these emotional experiences within the case study site, how they were experienced, and their influence on the social workers’ practice. It argues that these emotional experiences are inherently part of practice, influencing what the social workers did and how they did it, which could be manipulated by others to regulate the social workers’ identities so that they acted in institutionally ‘appropriate’ ways. While some social workers felt proud to act in such a manner in some contexts, often resulting in a difficult experience for the parents, most social workers felt constrained, believing they were no longer doing social work, and in some contexts sought to resist the institutional expectations.

Given the increasing importance of affordability in housing policy reform debates, this study develops a new composite approach to measuring housing affordability and employs it to examine the nature of urban housing affordability in Nigeria. The data used in this study are based on the Nigerian Living Standards Survey 2003-2004. The aggregate housing affordability model developed here measures housing affordability problems more accurately and classifies the housing affordability status of households more appropriately than the conventional affordability models. Findings show very high levels of housing affordability problems in Nigeria with about 3 out of every 5 urban households experiencing such difficulties. There are also significant housing affordability differences between socio-economic groups, housing tenure groups and states in Nigeria. The current national housing policy that de-emphasises government involvement in housing provision does not allow the country’s full potential for tackling its serious affordability problems to be realised and, hence, the laudable ‘housing for all’ goal of the policy has remained elusive. Nigerian socio-economic realities demand far more vigorous government involvement in housing development, working with a more committed private sector, energised civil societies and empowered communities to tackle the enormous housing problems of the country

Thesis (M.A.)--Université de Sherbrooke, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references.

<p> The purpose of this project was to locate a potential funding source and write a grant to support funding for the Emergency Response Team (ERT) program. The ERT will use solution-based practices within the Mendocino County Health and Human Services Agency to support family stabilization. An ERT would enable children and families to access multidisciplinary team services, including mental health and alcohol/drug services, immediately after a referral to Child Protective Services. This approach will allow families to address their needs for stabilization and ensure streamlined support, thus reducing the potential for children to be removed from the home or shorten the duration of the removal. Ultimately, this approach will ensure families access to appropriate levels of mental health and alcohol or drug service supports to enhance the well being of children, families, and the community. The actual submission and/or funding of this grant were not a requirement for the successful completion of this project.</p>

<p> This study was designed to explore how the experience of past parental alienation and current estrangement from adult child(ren) affected aging alienated parents particularly in the domains of depression and life satisfaction. This study also explored the link between past parental alienation and late-life estrangement from adult child(ren). The sample of 65 participants responded to an online survey after responding to a recruitment flyer posted on Craig's List. </p><p> The results showed mild to moderate levels of depression and moderate dissatisfaction with life among the study participants. Higher levels of parental alienation were significantly associated with higher levels of depression and greater dissatisfaction with life. Participants also overwhelmingly reported that past parental alienation had contributed to their current estrangement from their adult child(ren). </p><p> Further research is needed on the impact of parental alienation on the well-being of aging parents.</p>

<p> Since age has been identified as a leading risk factor for the development of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) and as the U.S. population ages, ADRD has become a community concern. Latinos face greater risk due to systemic psychosocial stressors such as limited community-based supportive services, lack of trained bilingual health care professionals, and low quality of treatment and preventative care. The purpose of this project was to develop a dementia program targeting the underserved Latino community of Orange County, California, identify potential funding sources, and develop a grant proposal on behalf of the Orange County Vital Brain Aging Program at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian. The proposed program will increase awareness on ADRD while decreasing barriers in health care utilization through community-based education and psychosocial and cognitive assessments. The actual submission and/or funding of this grant were not requirements for the successful completion of this project.</p>

<p> Citizenship/immigration status, high poverty rates and gender specific issues, present a significant problem, when addressing the mental health needs of Latino adolescents. This study utilized data from the 2009 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS). The independent variables for the study were citizenship/immigration status, socioeconomic status, and gender. The dependent variable was mental health. To examine the relationship between the independent and dependent variables, a frequency and regression analysis was performed. The results of the study indicate that citizenship/immigration status and gender are significant predictors of mental health among Latino adolescents. The results of the study suggest that social workers, community leaders, community members, and mental health providers, should explore selecting effective interventions with optimal outcomes for the mental health of this population.</p>