The ecomap, developed in 1975, is a tool used in social work practice to measure social support (Hartman, 1995). Although the ecomap is widely utilized, due in part to its ease of administration, it has not been validated in the literature as a reliable and valid tool in the measure of social support. This study aims to quantify the ecomap, explore its psychometric soundness, and begin the process of validation using two empirically validated social support measurement tools, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) (Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet, & Farley, 1988) and the Young Adult Social Support Inventory (YA-SSI) (McCubbin & Thompson, 1991). These efforts are expected to contribute to evidence-based practice in social work.

This descriptive-correlational study examined the knowledge, training and perceived preparedness of graduate social work and counselor education students in the area of comorbid childhood sexual abuse and substance abuse among women. Participants were 71 graduate social work and approximately 12 counselor education students scheduled to graduate in the spring semester of 2005. The study was analyzed using univariate and bivariate statistics. No significant differences emerged between graduate counselor education and social work students using independent-samples t-tests and a Fishers exact test on the measure of knowledge and training. Using a Mann Whitney U test, significant differences emerged between counselor education students on two questions on the measure of preparedness: No significant relationships emerged using a Pearsons r correlation coefficient to examine relationships between interval-level variables and the variable of knowledge. The results may help determine the degree to which social work and counselor education curricula should be altered to include these issues. This research also has implications for improving practice, which begins with the professional curriculum.

This dissertation investigates the influence of participation in an anti-racist educational (ARE) program upon the perceptions of, critical assessments of, and self-reported behaviors toward institutional racism in a sample of 11th-grade students enrolled in a public school district that had recently undergone compulsory, court-ordered desegregation. This quasi-experimental study measured hypothesized differences between the scores of a group of high school students on a quantitative data-gathering instrument before their participation in an Undoing Racism curriculum, with their scores on that same instrument re-administered three months after their completion of that course. It then compared the degree of pre-intervention/ post-intervention changes in this experimental study group with changes in scores on two concurrently administered rounds of the study instrument obtained from a peer control group who did not participate in the Undoing Racism program. Following the second round of testing, the qualitative component of this study involved the researcher conducting interviews with sub-sets of study subjects drawn from both the experimental and control groups. These interviews included questions about judicially mandated racial desegregation in the school district. Quantitative results of the study did not support any of the six study hypotheses. However, qualitative study results revealed differences in the experimental and control groups regarding their attitudes and beliefs about institutional racism. Based on the results of the study, the researcher recommended follow up studies to identify long term effects of the treatment on the study participants.

Youth tobacco smoking is one of the major public health problems of this society. Although, by some reports, adult cigarette smoking has been declining, teen smoking rates continue to remain unacceptably high. Current data indicates that smoking rates among minority youth which had declined in the past few years are beginning to rise again. The current increase in teen smoking and subsequent health dangers associated with smoking demonstrates a need for more effective, empirically based youth smoking prevention strategies. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of a substance abuse prevention program in reducing smoking among sixth grade African American students in Louisiana. The literature identifies several demographic and psychological variables that can influence smoking rates. These variables include anti-smoking attitudes, normative beliefs about smoking, decision-making ability, smoking refusal ability, general assertiveness ability, and selected demographic characteristics. This study also examined these variables to determine their significance in preventing smoking among African American youth. The study utilized a quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group design. Data was collected from 68 sixth grade African American students enrolled in one middle school located in South Central Louisiana. Results of the study indicate that sixth grade African American students: (a) report low intentions to smoke cigarettes; (b) exhibit lower levels of smoking behavior if they live in two-parent homes; and (c) have misconceptions about smoking in which they tend to overestimate the smoking rates of their peers and adults. The findings also indicate that sixth grade African American students who have higher academic performance are less likely to smoke cigarettes. Finally, the study found that sixth grade African American students who have higher levels of decision-making ability, smoking refusal ability, and anti-smoking attitudes have lower extent of smoking behavior and lower intentions to smoke cigarettes.

The study was prompted by the need for a social work response to the dramatic changes that have occurred in the home health care arena as a result of managed care policies. Social work has been part of home health care since its inception, but the current cost constrained market threatens the viability of social work in providing servies to elderly, ill, homebound individuals. Medicare home health care benefits have traditionally enabled many elderly individuals to live independently in thier communities. However, passage of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, which mandated the use of a Prospective Payment System for services reimbursement, has altered the delivery of home health services for many individuals (Liu, Long & Dowling, 2003). As a result, the focus on patient outcomes and the delivery of cost effective quality care has intensified. The study examines the nature of social work services provided in the home health care arena and the relationship between home health care recipient outcomes and a variety of functional and demographic variables as well as social work services. The study utilizes final disposition at discharge from home health care services, and the length of time a recipient is maintained in the community setting through the delivery of home health care services as outcome measures. The key variables of interest are the presence of social work services, the patient's functional status, caregiver status, and the demographic variables age, race and gender. The study is exploratory in nature. It identifies descriptive characteristics of the sample of home health care recipients who received home health care services from one home health care company located in South Central Lousisiana between January 1, 1999 and January 1, 2005. It explores the nature of social work intervention following the passage of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Unfortunately, the study results indicated that social work services have become very limited in scope. The major findings indicated that the patient's ability to ambulate independently was a good predictor of his or her ability to remain in the community. They also indicated that the patient's ability to prepare for and plan meals was the only variable to influence the number of days the patient received home care services. Implications for social work are discussed.

This descriptive, correlational and exploratory study used the Domestic Violence Blame Scale and Domestic Violence Myth Acceptance Scale, with questions suggested by the literature, to examine attitudes about domestic violence, knowledge and self-reported preparedness of a purposive sample of student social workers (N=236) in a southern state. An anonymous online web-based survey was used for data collection, and universities distributed the survey hyperlink directly to their students. Response rate was approximately 22% out of an estimated 1060 students who were reported to have received the hyperlink by their universities. Lower victim blame and myth acceptance scores were observed in students who received information about domestic violence from external sources, had worked with victims, or were interning. Various other significant findings on the tools based on demographic characteristics are discussed. Taking a family violence class had no significant effect on victim blame or myth acceptance, and students who indicated they grew up in rural areas scored significantly higher on all DVMAS factors, but additional research and/or analysis is necessary to infer the causes of those findings. Additional qualitative research is suggested to clarify and add depth to these findings. Recommendations include exploring ways to incorporate domestic violence education into the field setting or course work of social work education, with goals to improve screening, referral and intervention. Goals additionally include implementing efforts within social work education to examine the feasibility of preparing student social workers to practice universal screening for domestic violence and changes necessary to promote safe, culturally competent responses to clients experiencing domestic violence upon graduation. Introducing safety planning training into the course work is suggested as a minimum interim measure.

This study includes a program evaluation of LSU Mental Health Services and its impact on the college students receiving services. The study used both an outcome survey (Schwartz Outcome Survey-10) to determine any changes in current life functioning and a satisfaction survey (Client Satisfaction Questionnaire-8) to assess the clients perceived contentment with services provided. The expectations were that students would demonstrate an improvement in their current functioning after receiving treatment and that their outcome scores would correspond positively to reported client satisfaction scores. Results reveal that the student participants reported significant improvement in their overall functioning. In addition, the participants exhibited a significant positive correlation between functioning and client satisfaction at the 4-week follow-up.

This exploratory-descriptive research examines demographic, psychosocial, and academic characteristics of at-risk youth (N = 111) who attempted the General Educational Development (GED) Tests. Among students who passed and did not pass the GED Tests, numerous significant relationships emerged. Non-passers were more likely than passers to leave school for academic environment reasons (t = 2.21, df = 109, p < .05). As compared with those who passed the GED Tests, a greater number of moderately strong interrelationships among demographic, psychosocial, and academic characteristics emerged among students who did not pass. Most notably, for non-passers, significantly strong and positive relationships emerged between academic environment reasons for leaving school and two other variables: family reasons for leaving school (r = .55, p < .01) and psychosocial reasons for leaving school (r = .57, p < .05). In addition, a very strong and negative interrelationship emerged among non-passers between academic environment reasons for leaving school and the poverty indicator of status (r = -.68, p < .01). A multivariate perspective is critical for increasing knowledge regarding the social problem of dropout. Such knowledge is crucial for research and policy formation at the local, state, and national levels as well as for school social work practice and education.

In 2003, there were reports of child maltreatment affecting over 5.5 million children in the United States. As a result of this epidemic, over 500,000 children are in foster care with an estimated additional 300,000 in voluntary kin placements. Because of a shortage of foster families and resources, Child Protective Services (CPS) agencies routinely seek and give priority to family members to serve as foster families to maltreated children. There is a large body of research that demonstrates that children in kinship care are often at greater risk than those children placed in non-kin foster homes, particularly in terms of poverty, sub-standard housing, and receiving less support from CPS. Studies of foster care dyads have demonstrated that the degree to which a foster mother is emotionally invested in her foster child is an important predictor in the success of the placement. This study examined differences in emotional investment in foster children between kin and non-kin foster parents. Its primary hypothesis was that kin foster parents would express less emotional investment in their foster children compared to non-kin foster parents. Multiple regression analyses confirmed this expectation.

PURPOSE: This study compares and contrasts first-time juvenile offenders enrolled in a community-based intervention program whose cases were processed either informally or formally, and examines empirically- and conceptually-relevant contributors to re-offending. METHODS: This is a longitudinal, secondary analysis of 1072 male and female offenders. The study includes descriptive univariate analyses; chi-square bivariate analyses of each independent variable with the dependent variables (level of processing and recidivism at both one and three years); and binary logistic regression analyses to identify significant predictors of the dependent variables. Independent variables include age, gender, race, family structure, marital status of biological parents, family income, number of children in the home, type of offense, program completion, and POSIT risk scores (including substance abuse, physical health, mental health, family relationships, peer relationships, educational status, and aggressive behavior/delinquency). RESULTS: Variables significantly associated with level of processing were race, gender, type of offense, marital status of the biological parents, number of children in the home, and family relationship risk. Multivariate predictors of formal levels of processing were age, gender, race, type of offense, marital status of biological parents, and the number of children in the home. For one-year recidivism, analysis showed significant associations with level of processing and educational risk. Recidivism within three years was associated with age, program completion, and educational risk. Logistic Regression models showed family income, marital status of biological parents, and program completion are predictors of one-year recidivism. For predictors of three-year recidivism, age, family income, program completion, marital status of the biological parents, and mental health risk had significant partial effects. CONCLUSION: A greater understanding of the factors that are associated with and predict level of juvenile justice processing and recidivism for first-time juvenile offenders is critical to the success of the juvenile justice system and its associated intervention efforts as this is the group of youth active in the system in the largest proportions at any given time. This study lends to that understanding and offers analysis of both male and female youth in a non-urban setting and examines how family characteristics are associated specifically with level of processing, which are unique attributes compared with juvenile justice studies in the literature.